


A Touch of Luck

by IllyasJames



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Feyr, Don’t copy to another site, Happy Ending, Humanform Dragons, M/M, Magic, Magical Pregnancy, Phichit Potion Master
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2019-11-27 09:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18192647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllyasJames/pseuds/IllyasJames
Summary: Yuuri offers to be sent to the Frostdragons as part of the ongoing peace treaty between all the dragon races.His plan was that once the new ruler received the Scepter and was approved by the high-council, he would let himself be paraded around for ten years before slipping off and locate the Frostdragon he has admired for near a century.Turns out that Victor is the new ruler and instead of parading Yuuri about he insists on them being friends.All goes well until a potion they receive as a gift sent their situation in overdrive when it, mixed with alcohol, causes a magical induced pregnancy. All they had done was dance, but Victor is certain Yuuri is the other parent.This challenges their friendship, tempers fly, miscommunications happen, love will prevail.Sometimes a bit of Luck is the last thing you can use.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Fluff Bang that I joined last year. 
> 
> Originally it was going to be one long story written for 90% in Yuuri's POV, but when I tried to write the conclusion I realized I no longer liked it. I just could not make the conclusion I had planned work for how the story turned out. 
> 
> I let it rest for a few weeks (which turned into nearly 2 months due to illness and also being an artist for some other writers) only to read it over and conclude it needed to be completely redone. 
> 
> So technically this is version 3.0. But I can honestly say it is the version I like best. 
> 
> There's going to be art done by R-Tengu which will be added later. :}

Yuuri’s fingers smooth out the already immaculate folds in his attire. His fingers glide over the patterns in the fabric indicating his position. Small little stars in an offset white to the dark blue of his Haori make it look like he is wearing the starry night. The clasp which is holding it tight shaped like a sun and moon.

He should not be this nervous, he knows what he is doing. He asked for it. The last three weeks have been filled with meeting upon meeting,questioned over and over about why he had stepped up for such a position. He had been so overwhelmed, he simply told them the truth.

He closes his eyes, a soft smile on his lips. A hundred years ago he had been at the Exchange of Power, admiring how pretty the outfit looked on the Summerland Dragon when she handed the Scepter to the Ember Ruler, falling in love with one of the dancers that performed during the ceremonies, wishing he had been able to be closer to see more. 

He opens his eyes again, his resolve clear for all that know him seen in his eyes. 

Today he is the insurance, today he will be the dragon that will take the Scepter from the one Ruler to the next, he will be the one that leaves his homelands behind to move along with the scepter as dictated by their laws. Today he stops being just Yuuri an Emberdragon from Hasetsu and he will for the next hundred years be Yuuri the Insurance and safeguard to the Scepter of Power. 

He takes a deep breath. He can do this. He knows why he needs to do this. 

~~

_ Phichit ran into the small classroom Yuuri was mixing the potions their potion teacher had asked him to set up for the following class. It was a delicate matter as just the smallest deviation could lead to serious results one would not want to be near of. _

_ “Yuuri! I just heard the most interesting news.” Phichit grabbed hold of the table edge and smiled at him widely. Yuuri only glanced at him through the corner of his eye, showing his friend he was listening. This was enough for Phichit to continue. _

_ “I was going along the trade market to find that one ingredient I was running short of and I heard a few people talking about dancers. I wasn’t really listening as you are one of the most profound experts of that topic, but then one mentioned the name Victor.”  _

_ Yuuri’s fingers twitched just slightly, and he reacted fast enough for that drop to not en into the mixture. He put the flask back in it’s holder and takes a small tin with powder. He needs to only put in a small tip, nothing too much. But it needed to be added within the minute of the other ingredient or he could start all over. He tried to hold his fingers from shaking while taking of the lid above the pot. _

_ “So. Did they know anything interesting? It has been almost a hundred years Phichit, it might be another one.”  _

_ His friend nods. “That was my thought as well, till the person talking about him mentioned how he performed in Ember back then. She even mentioned the music and the outfit you always go on about. I jumped at her and asked some questions and I am certain this is him Yuuri. She even mentioned the unusual Silver hair. Although she called it Ashen.” _

_ Yuuri nodded, if he wasn’t so focused on getting this potion right he’d been shaking Phichit to get to the point. He put down the container and filled a pipette with the final ingredient. He only needed one drop in every container and he’d be done. _

_ “Apparently,” Phichit says with a grin “it’s even an unusual color among dragons. As she claimed he is from Frost.”  _

_ Yuuri’s head swivels so fast he will never be able to say the black spots he saw where from the motion or from him emptying the pipette in the first container causing the content to simply blow up.  _

~~

“Yuuri.” The soft voice makes him look at the other person in the room with him. “Are you nervous my boy?” 

The old Ember Ruler looks at him with a soft smile. The older dragon had been kind to Yuuri growing up. With his parents working as scribes he had found many of his childhood days being filled with being around the Ember palace, playing with the other young dragons. Some of the court had been annoyed by them but never the Ruler who had always simply smiled at them.

“I am Elder. It is not like anything else I have done, and it is a very serious position.” Yuuri smiles as convincing as his nerves allow him. “There is always a chance something goes wrong and I end up messing all of the peace we’ve had over the past thousands of years. I hate being the cause of issue.” 

The Ember Ruler laughs. “Oh dear boy. I could not think of any way you could have such events take place. We have heard enough reports that the current Frost Ruler is very capable. Having the support of no less than ninety of the hundred and twelve tribes residing in Frost.” 

The older dragon steps next to Yuuri, a hand on his shoulder. “All you need to worry about if for you to find that Frostdragon you have been looking for all these years. Your mentor and many others have spoken very highly of you. You even requested to be schooled in Fairling when you thought the one you were looking for was of Feyr nature. You spoke adamantly that although a relationship between a feyr and a dragon might be looked down upon you were certain things would work out. Such devotion will be rewarded. I know it.” 

Yuuri starts blushing. Is there even one person that does not know exactly why he is doing this.

~~

_ Cialdini walked into the destroyed classroom, his destroyed classroom, a look of ‘Ah, I knew it was you two making trouble again’ plastered all over his face when the smoke clears enough to show him the two students tossed to the floor.  _

_ “Do I even want to know what the occasion of destruction is this time, or should I just call the headmaster and tell him the standard story?”  _

_ Phichit was the first off the ground, hurling himself towards the older Feyr, propelled by the red and gold filigree wings on his back, his arms wrapped tightly around Cialdini.  _

_ Yuuri had been a bit slower as the blast had made him show his horns and he had not realized till he had tried to sit up and found the one on his forehead logged into the bottom of the table he had landed under during the blast.  _

_ He walked towards his teacher with his eyes down, a heave stone set in his stomach. “My apologies Master Cialdini. Today’s mishap was my doing. I put too much thalain in the potion.” Yuuri said, a deep blush setting on his cheeks. “For you see…” _

_ “We found the one Yuuri’s sweet for.” Phichit had yelled in Master Cialdini’s ear so loudly it was a miracle the man had been able to figure out what the young Fey had been saying at all.  _

_ Master Cialdini had turned to Yuuri with the brightest of smiles on his lips. “Ah So our young Dragonborn coming to Fairling has finally yielded results. So tell me, is it indeed one of our illustrious winterfeyr or do you need to go and plead with the queen of the snowelementals after all?”  _

_ “Neither.” Phichit shook his head. “It turns out that the dancer that went off with our darling Yuuri’s heart is a dragon from Frost.” The young Feyr smiled at his best friend. “Seems he never had needed to leave the Dragonlands to find his one after all.”  _

_ Celestino nodded slowly, a solemn look on his face. “Unless, If I remember it correctly, it is easier to enter Fairling when one is a dragon than it is for any dragon that is not of Frost themselves to be allowed to enter the Frostlands.”  _

_ Yuuri nodded slowly, of all the dragonlands Frost was the most reclusive. They had lost the most during the wars, they had the deepest scars, and they had shown that by basically locking their borders shut once the Exchange of Power was put in place. For Victor to have been present at the last Exchange he, like Yuuri, would have had to have been in his Rulers retinue.  _

_ He has heard a new Ruler had been chosen, but it had yet to have a big change on the lands willingness to allow a stranger into their lands.  _

_ Yuuri shuddered thinking of all the paperworks he would have to go through to be allowed a visa to even pass the borders. As he had no idea where to even start looking, he doubts he will be permitted. Frostdragons are notorious for not allowing outsiders to court their own. If only there was a way to be given a pass with enough time and freedom to actually be able to look around. But the only outsider that had ever been allowed over the border like that had been the… _

_ “I could become the Insurance.” Yuuri says, looking at Celestino. “They are the ones to receive the Scepter at the next Exchange of Power and one of Ember would have to be sent.”  _

_ Phichit looked up to Yuuri with a worried look on his face. “What do you mean? What does this Insurance have to do with the Exchange of Power.”  _

_ Yuuri gave him a wobbly smile. “At the end of the Power wars, when the Exchange of Power was implemented they build in a security system. No Dragon land can host the Scepter for longer than a human century, and the former host sends one of their own to live with the new Ruler to assure no nefarious acts are done with the Scepter. This person is called the Insurance.”  _

_ “It’s like a prisoner of war kind of arrangement.” Celestino chimed in.  _

_ “A Prisoner!” Phichit shot forward and held Yuuri tightly. “What do you mean, prisoner? Are they going to keep Yuuri locked up somewhere?”  _

_ Yuuri quickly hugged his friend when he saw the magic coming of the young fey’s wings in waves. “It’s okay Phichit. If I get chosen to be the Insurance they won’t have me locked up. Part of the Treaty rules dictates though that the Insurance can’t leave the lands they are sent to till the next Exchange of Power.” _

_ “To become the Insurance though.” Celestino walked over placing his hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. The older Feyr looked worried. “Are you certain you want this? Not only are you seen as the representative of all of the Ember dragons, but you will be paraded around all through Frostland for several years. We all know you are not particularly fond of being the center of attention.”  _

_ “It will only be for a few years, nothing to hard as I will have my quest for Victor to look forward to.” Yuuri was certain to put all his determination into his voice when he tried to convince his teacher that he would be all too capable in fulfilling the task requested of an Insurance. “Plus this will give me more than ninety years to look for Victor without having to worry about renewing my papers and not being granted access before I can find him.” _

_ Phichit didn’t seem really calmed down by his words but he had understood Yuuri’s desire, and saw that Yuuri was intent on this course of action. “How does one become the Insurance though? I doubt they will just send anyone.”  _

_ Yuuri nodded. “True, I believe there is an extensive process about it. The council would have to already know of the person. Know they are of a good background. With my parents being scribes and my clearance to take up alchemy studies here in Fairling, I can rely on that for them to take my request into consideration at least.  _

_ Celestino saw the determination set on Yuuri’s face and knew nothing could sway the young Dragons mind from the plan he had now set to. “Then let me write a letter of recommendation for you. Dragons and Feyr might not have a lot of understanding towards one another, but my name is known, and might sway the decision in your favor.”  _

_ “In that case I think it is a good time to take this out.” Phichit pulled a small vial from one of his many pockets. “Cause it sounds like you could use all the luck you can get for this plan to work.”  _

_ “With everything that will need to go in my favor I might need a drop every single day.” Yuuri muttered before he presses his tongue to the top of his mouth to smooth the potion all over it.  _

_ “You know you can’t.” Phichit said calmly. “Remember when you took a drop every day during exam week? That was a right old mess, and there are still people that look crossly at me because of it.” He let out a soft chuckle. “Then again who could have imagined that you wanting to have just a bit more time to prepare would end up sending everyone to the infirmary with a stomach flu.” _

_ “Please Chit, don’t remind me.” Yuuri smiled, a blush setting on his cheeks. “I’ll keep it to this one drop for now then. It should be enough with how potent you made it anyway.”  _

_ “I could always give you some so that you can take a drop now and then when you think you might need it.” Yuuri just shook his head t seeing a mischievous grin appear on his dear friends face.  _

_ “Maybe only on the day of the Exchange. I’ll need all the luck I can get that day.”  _

_ ~~ _

Yuuri pushes his tongue against the roof of his mouth, still tasting the faint traces of the drop Phichit had insisted he took that morning before getting dressed. He really hoped his friends luck potion did nothing too shocking. He needed today to go the best it could, to leave an impression that he was worthy of his position. That last thing he could use was for anything to go wrong. 

The Ember Ruler looks at him with a small frown on his calm face. “There is but one thing that has been troubling me. The only thing that had been making me not want to grand you tour request.” Yuuri looks up with a startle. “What happens when you find this Victor and he has no interest in you, that he already found a mate to settle down with? A broken heart is a heavy burden, and not something one wants to have in a place away from home.” 

“I don’t know Sir.” Yuuri bites his lip. He hadn’t thought about the option of failure too much over the years. Sure it had crossed his mind when he had applied to be allowed to study in Fairling but that had only been because of the interspecies issue when he thought Victor had been a Feyr not that they would connect the moment they would meet again. “The moment I saw him back then, when our eyes met, I just felt something. Even if it turns out I was the only one that felt it I will not let our people down.” 

“Well Spoken” The Ember Ruler nods, before patting Yuuri’s shoulder. 

They both take their position when the previous Insurance wearing her traditional Summerland attire joins them with the Scepter firmly held in her hands. The same Scepter she will hand over to Yuuri after saying her final words to the Ember Ruler. He will then take that Scepter and walk over to the Ruler of the Frostdragons and swear them in as the new ruler of all the dragons. 

After that everything will be mere tradition. The new Ruler will have to sign his name on the Treaty to indicate they will adhere to it, and Yuuri will have to sign it too to show his intent to uphold his part of the deal. Then a few shows for entertainment a small dinner after which Yuuri will leave along his new Liege to Frost. 

In Frost they will most likely visit every clan there is to show him around, to prove that the treaty was still going strong. There would be parades, receptions, and probably some grand balls, and dinners, Yuuri would have to be in attendance to. Once everyone’s interest in him had waned down though he would be free to leave and look for Victor. 

The doors to the Main Hall are opened and the three of them walk out into the crowd assembled to see the Exchange of Power for themselves. Yuuri keeps his posture straight and his eyes strained on the center of the Hall, he doesn’t even spare one moment to try and spot familiar faces in the crowd as he knows it would just make him feel flustered. 

They reach their spot at the center of the Hall far too quickly and way to slow for Yuuri’s goo mood. He eyes the spot across from them, seeing it still vacant. This makes him nervous as normally the two Rulers would enter at the same time. Why was the Ruler of Frost not here yet? 

“People present in the Hall, the Frost Ruler sends his apologies for his delay. It seems his dog wandered off right when the doors opened and he needs to make them presentable again. He hopes you may find it in yourselves to forgive him this, as he wishes to present himself as best he can for all those that have assembled here today.” The steward announces loudly.

Yuuri lets out a small sigh, while scrunching his nose. How vain must this Frost Ruler be if he is willing to do such a thing just to get his dog presentable? Sure Yuuri loves dogs, and had wanted one for many a year, but why take one to such an important event. He feared the frost Ruler might be one that preferes looks over common sense. 

Unless the Ruler was a very strict person who insisted on always being dressed to perfection. They already instilled their dog has to look perfect, they will most likely not allow Yuuri to wear anything but the best. If so than Yuuri is in for a very long time as he hates having to dress up. Today should have been the exception, not the rule. 

The doors on the other side of the Hall get opened and the steward announces the Frost Ruler. “Here to represent the Dragons of Frost, their chosen Ruler, his benevolent Victor Nikiforov and his trusty dog Makkachin.” 

No one can blame Yuuri from nearly having a heart attack. Gone are the long flowy locks, and the wispy build, also his attire is far more fitted for a Ruler than for a dancer. But just in the way he walks, how he holds his broad shoulders, and flicks his fringe to wink at the crowd, Yuuri can recognize the dancer he had seen those hundred years ago. He quickly looks into the crowd and finds his friends and family all stare back at him, then at the frost Ruler, Victor, before setting their sights on him again. 

Just the night before his sister Mari had joked about Victor maybe being in the new Ruler’s retinue, how, if so, he would have to keep his manner for the whole duration of the ceremony. He had simply taken his dinner to another table, not wanting to voice his fear that he did not believe for such a thing to happen. After all, nothing in the universe was ever so easy. 

Yet here he was, not in the Ruler’s retinue as joked about, but as the actual Ruler. Yuuri’s mind halts for a moment when he realizes he needs to re-evaluate all of his plans for his years in Frost. He can work with this, as it saves him the trouble of having to find the man.

He sees Victor’s eyes go over the crowd, almost as if he is looking for somebody, a sting makes him take in a deep breath. One which is heard quite loudly due to how the Hall is build. Immediately Victor’s eyes are set on him. 

A large heart shaped smile forms on the dragon’s lips, and he looks like he was just given a great present. Sending shivers down Yuuri’s spine, making his mind go blank. 

“Yuuri!!! I found you!” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2!!!
> 
> This chapter gave me so much trouble. Not only did I change all the tenses, but also the POV, worked out some events that were originally only mentioned in passing, and had to deal with making Victor's pining sound like him and not like Georgi. 
> 
> But it looks so good now... I'm so happy with it.
> 
> Hope you all like it.

He can work with this. Sure he can.

Yuuri doesn’t seem too thrilled to see him though. But he is in the Ember Ruler’s retinue so that could be easily explained. Victor had caused a bit of a scene by calling out his name earlier.

Victor’s fingers glide into Makka’s fur. For anyone that doesn’t know him it looks like he is simply petting his dog. For those really close to him it is a sign that he is nervous. He is certain no one present knows he is nervous. 

He sees the Summerland Dragon step forward holding the Scepter of Power in her hands. She turns to face the Ember Ruler and bows deeply. A great sign of respect that the Ruler has indeed deserved as he had done great things in his period of Power. Victor can only hope he will be remembered this favorable.

Soon she will hand the Scepter over to the next Insurance. Victor should probably be able to spot which in the small retinue that would be, but he hadn’t really paid a lot of attention to those details. All he had cared about was being able to find Yuuri. 

When the Summerland Dragon is done she takes a step towards the center for the trade of the Scepter. Victor nearly squeals when Yuuri calmly steps forward to accept the Scepter. 

Yuuri’s the Insurance. 

A hardly contained grin graces Victor’s lips. He had hoped his new position would lead him to the person he’d been pining over for the last hundred years. Destiny must have been in his favor. And with Yuuri being the Insurance he won’t even run the chance of causing some diplomatic issue by trying to take him home with him. Yakov will have to be pleased about that. Could he be any more lucky.

~~

_ “Another denial!” Victor walked into Yakov’s office and pushed the paper under his nose. “Why does the Ruler keep denying my request to go to Fairling?”  _

_ The cold look his main adviser gave him could freeze the magma in a volcano. He pointed to a chair in front of his desk and returned his sight to the papers in front of him.  _

_ In the end he had made Victor wait a full hour before he even deemed it worthy to look at him. _

_ “We don’t have any tradings with Fairling, you have no accepted reason to go there. If anything your reason could only cause issues between Frost and Fairling.” Yakov leaned forward setting his sight on Victor forcing him to keep looking at him. “If you want permission to do something as silly as travel to find a person you have only seen once, stating your reason as ‘to find love’ is not enough to convince our Ruler to allow you such folly.”  _

_ Yakov sighed. “You know there are many clans that have put in requests for you to find a mate among them. Among those is the clan our Ruler himself comes from. You are considered a far too valuable asset to be allowed to fall in the hands of others.”  _

_ “They talk about me as if I am property.” Victor said calmly. “They see in me nothing more than the most acclaimed dancer. A dragon of astute pedigree who they can breed as nothing more than one breeds their dogs.”  _

_ “What will you do against it?” Yakov stated calmly a vein pulsing on his forehead showing he was actually getting irritated. “The Ruler paid for many of your expenses when you still performed outside of Frost. Right now your only way to avoid being traded of as a breeding mutt, as you so kindly stated it, is to convince the Elders to appoint you the new Ruler.”  _

_ Yakov snickered about his own joke and sent Victor to leave his office. He had a few details to finalize on Victor’s next tour around the clans.  _

_ “How many Elders would I need to convince?”  _

_ Yakov looked up at Victor’s request.  _

_ “And don’t say all of them. How many would be enough to make an actual attempt for leadership?” Victor straightened his shoulders, making himself stand up to the full length his human form would supply.  _

_ “Sixty is the bare minimum to allow for a voting to be held. With eighty, you could side pass even that.” Yakov saw Victor’s face take a contemplative look. “You aren’t seriously considering it are you?”  _

_ “Of course.” Victor grinned cheekily.  _

~~

Victor sees Yuuri swallow quickly when he takes the Scepter, he looks so capable, so strong. Trying not to swoon and make dopey faces is a real effort on Victor’s part. Yakov would have no issue to stride over to where he is standing and smack him against the back of his head. 

Five steps, it doesn’t take longer than five steps, before Yuuri is standing right in front of Victor. His lips are pressed together into a tight line, making Victor wonder if he really wasn’t pleased to see Victor here. Or maybe he was just nervous. 

It’s barely visible but Yuuri’s hands are shaking, enough that Victor calmly wraps his hand around one of his wrists, holding them steady. If that alone wasn’t enough of a breach of tradition it is Victor that does the greeting. 

“Hello Yuuri.” Victor’s lips curl up in what he knows is a great heart shaped smile. Yuuri’s lips part slightly and a light blush colors his cheeks. Victor can’t help but think he looks simply delectable. Instead of the tradition Greeting he should be given Yuuri simply mumbles a ‘hello Victor’ back at him. The trembling in his hand increases, causing Victor to grip the wrist a bit tighter. 

“I do believe you have some words to say before I am allowed to touch that lovely piece of Power you are currently holding.” Victor smiles softly. “Do you need a moment to remember what they are?” He gives him a wink. 

Yuuri shakes his head, then takes a deep breath. “No, no, I remember.” He closes his eyes.

When he opens them again he has such a steeled conviction looking at Victor, he can’t help but let go of the wrist. Missing the contact the moment he does it. 

Yuuri takes a short breath, his voice chiming clearly throughout the Hall. Leaving it so that none could say they had not heard him.

“Greetings Ruler of the Dragons of Frost Victor Nikiforov, I, Katsuki Yuuri born from the Hasetsu clan in Ember, was chosen by the people of Ember as their Insurance. As Insurance I am given the task to bare witness that by accepting this Scepter you are willing and capable to govern all of the Dragons of the known and unknown planes.” 

Victor nods slowly, amazed by the strength he feels coming from the other dragon after seeing him so nervous only seconds before. Victor’s not aware his pupils grow a bit larger before he lets his eyelids droop a bit to shield them. Yuuri takes a deep breath and gives him a smile that is way to delectable, Victor just knows his cheeks are blushing. So when he sees the red also rise on Yuuri’s cheeks he is pleased to know the feeling might be mutual. 

“Are you willing to take the post of next in line to serve and rule all Dragons. Are you willing to step forward and become the one to lead us all in the next century of peace. Are you willing to accept this Scepter. May I know your answer?” 

“I will.” 

With those words Victor takes one step forward and raises his hand in acceptance. Yuuri nods and places the Scepter in his hand, making certain they in no way touch skin. Victor knows better than to try either but he longs for the feel if ever so slightly. 

“Then take this Scepter and all it stands for as your own. None will take this from you as the task to rule is now yours to bear. I hope you well in your time of Ruling.” 

Yuuri takes a small step back, a soft smile on his lips, then he throws his now empty hand up and shouts. 

“All Greet our new Ruler. All hail Victor Nikiforov.” 

The crowd around them returns the greeting causing the whole room to pulse around them. 

Victor almost, almost, waves the scepter over his head to wave back at the crowd, but he had been told many a times to not do such a thing.

~~

_ Yakov’s voice buzzed through the office going over all the do’s and don'ts Victor would have to keep himself to at the Ceremony. When he mentioned for Victor to keep his composure again he took his pen and striped off the tally. Another five count, a quick check tells him it is the tenth on that subject, under the belt.  _

_ “Vitya.” Lilia’s voice pulled his attention. The sharp look she send him made him actually sit up straighter from the slight slump he had slipped in over the course of the morning. “At least pretend you are paying attention.”  _

_ “But I am.” Victor said with passion, flipping his notepad over to show the collection of tallies. “See. I have kept track of every time Yakov mentioned my posture, my clothing, my expression, my smile, although I am still a bit iffy on how I actually grin like a half-witted fool after a binge.” His finger tapped on every line. “I even made note of him telling me not to ask about Yuuri, not to approach Yuuri if he is present, or be too obviously looking for Yuuri.”  _

_ And yes Victor had not missed how those three things had more tallies each than all the other ones combined. He honestly could not fathom why Yakov kept talking about it, Victor already knew that during the ceremony it was forbidden to speak of anything that had nothing to do with the Ceremony. Due to the accumulation of all the powers of all the dragon lands into the Scepter. It was feared something could go wrong and the Treaty could shatter.   _

_ Yakov turned to give him one of the best scowls he had given in years. But Victor knew that as long as the man’s horns were all nice and tucked in he had nothing to really fear of the anger.  _

_ “Vitya! The Ceremony is in less than a week! You have not been Ruler of Frost for that long! Know that if you screw this up we could have a serious issue at hand here.” The man slumped down in his chair. “May I remind you of the Issue in Rain seventeen cycles ago? I do not wish for something like that to happen to you.”  _

_ Victor swallowed.  _

_ Yeah, he remembered that particular situation. Only thirty years into the Rulers reign had he become the All Ruler and he had managed to mismanage so badly the Elders in Rain had revoked their trust in him. It had lead to a heavy internal battle only resolved when the Insurance had taken reclaim of the Scepter and called for the High-Council to judge over the situation.  _

_ He rubbed his forehead. “I understand your concerns. I have been Ruler for far too short to be content in my situation.” He looked at Yakov. “But we knew why I wanted to become Ruler to begin with. So please ease up on it. I am not going to risk my position no matter how much I want to find Yuuri.”  _

_ He grinned at them with an air of playfulness. “Plus even if I can’t ask about Yuuri during the Ceremony I can start inquiring about him afterwards right?”  _

_ Yakov had three horns pop out over that. Lilia just sighed.  _

_ “You will refrain from doing so during the congregation. It will be your job to show the other lands you are a competent Ruler first. Then once we have established good relationships between you and them we can start sending out feelers.” Lilia nodded slowly. “With your charm and persuasive abilities that should take no more than two years, three at the most.”  _

_ Victor choked on his own breath. “Two years! I thought we were talking about months, not years.” He slumped down. “What if he managed to get a partner before that time? I have already wasted enough time as it is because I wanted to do things properly.”  _

_ “If you really were going to do it properly, we would round of the Insurance presentations to all the clans in Frost first.” Lilia said calmly, reigning in her frustration. “So be glad we are allowing you your folly after two years and not after the whole ten that will take.”  _

_ “I can’t help it.” Victor pouted, and he knew he was pouting. “From the moment we laid eyes on each other back then I knew there was a connection. I just want to find him as fast as possible.”  _

_ Victor started to giggle, which caused goosebumps with both Yakov and Lilia. “If Yuuri’s at the celebrations though I could always just whisk him away, no need to have a conversation.”  _

_ “You will do no such thing.” Yakov’s voice was heard all through the building. Many of the guards had wondered what their Ruler had opted as plan this time.  _

_ Lilia’s hand on his shoulder had been the only thing stopping him from slipping into dragon form. Her calm eyes focused solely on Victor’s reluctant pout.  _

_ “Unless you want an all out war both in as outside of Frost, you will refrain from such an act.”  _

_ Victor slumped down in his chair, his foot flopped sideways and nudged his dog in the side. Makka had looked up, giving a soft whine to show their discomfort. Victor had quickly pulled the dog in his lap.  _

_ “I’m so sorry my friend, I had not meant to hit you.” He nuzzled into the poodles soft curls when a thought had popped up in his head. He looked up with a broad grin.  _

_ “Let me take Makka as my secondant.” Victor had not missed the disapproving looks on Lilia and Yakov’s faces. He had interrupted them before they could start laying down reasons why that wasn’t wise. “There is no way I can leave him behind, so you can be certain I won’t do anything rash. You always say I am more sensible when I have them with me.”  _

_ Victor just figured that if he had Makka standing beside him during the Ceremony he wouldn’t have to worry about Yakov taking that place. The only person beside Makka he ever wanted to stand beside him was Yuuri. _

_ He had fantasized for years about Yuuri standing beside him, sitting beside him, being near him. _

~~

Yuuri sat down beside him in the chair meant for the Insurance when they approached the High-council to sign their names under the treaty. Victor had a hard time to not constantly glance in his direction, but was disappointed to find Yuuri’s eyes strained on the elders before them. Not even a single time did he see if Yuuri even acknowledged his presence. 

With Makka having to stay with the retinue there is nothing to quell Victor’s rising nerves and slowly small Ice flowers were starting to bloom on his armrests. Slowly his whole body is getting wrapped in waves of colder air. He spots a shiver go down Yuuri’s spine, but is amazed when the other dragon simply shakes it off. 

Yuuri leans forward to take a sip from the glass of water that was provided to them for this. 

“Oh.” 

The surprised sound makes the Elder that was talking fall silent, all at the table turn to look at Yuuri who turns a bit red at the attention. It doesn’t take Victor long to spot why he had made such a surprised sound though. 

The water in his glass was frozen solid. In fact, a quick look tells Victor all of the water on the table has. Causing him to feel a surge of heat shooting up to his cheeks. What an impression he is making on the High-council and above all Yuuri.

“My apologies I must have been more nervous for the Ceremony than I had thought, please let me.” He takes Yuuri’s glass, making a small movement with his wrist before handing it back to him. His other hand moves over the table, defrosting all the other water as well. “This should make it all drinkable again.” Victor says with a soft smile devout of any pompous or bragging. 

Yuuri just looks at his glass dumbfounded for a second before finally taking the sip he had been planning. The pleasantly surprised look on his face when he takes the water in tells Victor that he had guessed the preferred drinking temperature correctly. 

“You are indeed a formidable Ice mage. The people of Frost have chosen their Ruler well.” The head of the High-council bows her head, takes a sip of her own water before continuing with the task of finalizing the Ceremony.

“As I just explained the list of duties bestowed on either of you today are vast, but of the utmost importance.” She looks up with a calm smile. Her large amber colored eyes focus on Victor. 

“Do you, Victor Nikiforov, Ruler of Frost, accept the terms that were laid down by those that signed the first treaty. Do you accept the duty that has been placed upon you by accepting the Scepter, the duty to keep the peace those before you worked so hard to establish and maintain.”

Victor nods slowly. 

Pleased the High-Councillor sets her sight on Yuuri.

“Do you, Katsuki Yuuri, Insurance of the lands of Ember, accept the job that was instilled on you. To keep the peace and do all in your power to keep all the lands in communications so that peace is ensured.” 

Victor sees Yuuri nod confidently, but not before a quick nervous nibble on his lower lip. 

“Then sign your names on the treaty to make it clear it is your own.” 

She hands a pen to Victor who gladly puts down his name under the Ember Ruler’s one. After doing so he gives the pen to Yuuri and sees him write down his name on the Treaty under the previous Insurance one. 

With this pen-stroke both are bound to the magic that is contained in the Treaty. What ever may happen in the next century this bond is unbreakable and would come with heavy repercussions if either of them do anything to harm the Treaty willingly. 

**

Victor lands on the landing platform of Frost’s Main Hall with quite a bounce. A dense snowstorm had managed to cover the whole area and it had been deemed unwise for them to travel, but Victor had been eager to get home. To show his new house for the next century. But he should have known better than to think Lilia and Yakov would let him get off easy right after becoming the Ruler of all the Dragons. 

Victor leans forward to give Yuuri an easier time to unbuckle and get down from his rider position. Of course it is Makka that makes the jump into the ples of snow first, then several bags, the riding gear, before Yuuri finally climbs off. Greatly hindered by the layer upon layer he is wearing. 

“Honestly Victor.” Yuuri says loudly, barely managing to come over the howling winds that flourish all around them. “Are you certain you wish to take human form in this weather? I know your element is Ice but even for you this must be cold.” 

Victor stretches himself out before stepping forward, his human form as naked as one can get. He takes up some of the gear and bags before he follows Makka towards the small door leading inside. 

“This little storm is nothing compared to some of the ones we had near my homestead. Be glad Lilia and Yakov have planned our Visit to my former clan when the weather is much kinder.” 

Yuuri was probably shaking his head, but he could hear the minute sounds over the winds of him following Victor towards the door. 

“Now let us get you inside and warmed up.” Victor holds the door open for Yuuri to get in before him. 

Once inside he is wrapped in a robe that Yuuri keeps at the top of their luggage. Victor can only grin at the concern Yuuri still displays at keeping Victor warm, even if he really has no qualms with it. On the other hand one can clearly hear Yuuri’s teeth rattle in his struggle to maintain warm. 

Victor quickly makes him shed the snow covered top layer of clothing before starting to rub his arms in a way to take the cold out. A soft giggles bubbles past his lips, becoming a full chuckle when Yuuri gives him a dirty glare. 

Even though Victor had insisted on providing Yuuri with more and warmer clothes than he had brought along himself, the younger dragon still managed to end up feeling more frozen than some of the tundra’s they had in Frost. 

“You have to admit, it is a bit funny that probably the only dragon in all of Ember who can not generate fire or control heat was chosen to become the Insurance for Frost of all places.” 

“You should not have started laughing when I had told you that.” Yuuri scowls at him. “I know it was a bit of a shock, but the constant reminder of you finding it amusing is simply rude.”

Victor smiles ruefully. “You are right and I will try to do better. So hopefully you can forgive me.” 

Yuuri stretches his arms, wiggling his fingers to regain feeling in them, and looks over his shoulder. “Oh, I’ve forgiven you. As I am still withholding what I can do it is only proper to do so.” 

“I feel that is not real forgiveness but still,” Victor pushes open the door to one of the small rooms he keeps his rider gear “it is a start.” 

He turns when he hears the loud crashing sound that indicates Yuuri dropped the saddle he was holding. Seeing the look of amazement on Yuuri’s face when he is taking in all the different types of gear Victor possesses make him swell with pride. He is quite fond of his collection. 

~~

_ “So Yuuri,” Victor unbuckled most of his clothes while they were on the landing platform of the Main Hall “just what is your speed in flying? We have quite some strong winds in Frost and I rather would not lose you.”  _

_ The sudden squeak he heard when he pulled his pants down made him look at Yuuri, who in return was pointedly looking at not-Victor with ears that are turning a very deep red.  _

_ “Well I would not know actually.” Yuuri said under his breath. “Ember dragons can be quite temperamental so we actually rarely take on our true form. It is easier to maintain in control like this. So we don’t actually fly anywhere.”  _

_ “Oh.” Victor blinked a few times. “Well in that case I will just have to let you ride me when we go to the other clans for the introduction events. Those will mainly be balls and some dinners, so the load to carry to them was already light.”  _

_ Yuuri finally turned to look at him. “Carry? I thought there would be parades?”  _

_ Victor had simply laughed and shook his head. “Frost stayed hostile the longest, and even to this day many clans have not moved to a more open way of being towards others. We are a very mountain rich lands, and many clans have put their steads right at the top ridges for just that reason. In fact I can say in all honesty that less than a dozen clans have decent roads among their steads. So no parades.”  _

_ “Plus Frost is way too cold for our people to have to stand outside just to catch a small glimpse of either of us.” Victor almost said it as an afterthought. “Circling overhead and making a big landing on their biggest landing-platform does that trick just as well.”  _

_ He chuckled. “Plus I know from experience that I am not one to fly while holding something in my claws. I can get quite excited when I am speaking and I have the tendency to emphasize what I am saying with movements of either hands or claws.” _

_ He had seen the color drain from Yuuri’s face and the quick look he had send to Victor’s hands, who had indeed been moving along with his story. Victor couldn’t help to push him just a tad further. _

_ “In fact it is why Yakov had originally given me Makka. Instead of stopping it simply made me realize I rather have them as a rider on my back than that I am forced to carry along crates.”  _

_ He had leaned forward to ruffle his dogs ears and cheeks, all with a cheery grin on his face. Makka had responded by loudly boofing as if to state their agreement with the statement that they were better off as rider. Yuuri had let out a soft giggle. _

_ “In that case I gladly accept the position as rider.” Yuuri had stuck out his hand, probably expecting Victor to shake it. Instead he had used it to pull Yuuri in a tight embrace, which had made the other man stammer and turn exceptionally red. “Oh Yuuri, I had hoped I would be able to like the Insurance, for some always looked like dreadful bores to me, but with you I know we can really make it work between us.”  _

_ Yuuri had pushed him away to hide his burning cheeks in his hands and tell Victor off for saying such embarrassing things like that. Victor could only wonder if the red shade would stick once Yuuri started to use his powers to keep himself warm.  _

_ “At least you’ll know how to keep yourself warm.” Victor had meant to turn after that comment but he had caught the look on Yuuri’s face and had paused his resumed action of getting ready to take his true form.  _

_ “You do know how to keep yourself warm, don’t you?”  _

_ The hesitant shake had told him all he needed to know.  _

_ “Then how are you planning to deal with the weather?” Victor’s mind was at a loss, but Yuuri seemed to perk up.  _

_ “Ah, I was provided with some warmer clothes and outfits that I was planning to wear when we were going to visit the colder regions.”  _

_ Victor had just stared at him for a moment. Before calmly leaning forward into Yuuri’s space. _

_ “We only have cold regions in Frost. So just how cold are you referring to?”  _

_ He had made Georgi run off to get Lilia and Yakov once Yuuri had given him his answer. His advisers had not been pleased to be called when they had actually been ready to fly off themselves to take care of some business at the Main Hall while Victor and Yuuri were doing the first visits.  _

_ Both though had immediately understood that seeing Yuuri’s lack of Fire ability and his inability to actually fly they were going to have to change some of the initial visits to accommodate him better.  _

_ The look on Yuuri’s face when he had found out that some of the more remote regions of Frost had temperatures well below zero even in the dept of Summer he understood his attire might be greatly ill fitted for the endeavor.  _

_ Victor had promised Yuuri that more suitable clothes would be made for him while they were making their first visit. Then once they arrived at the Main Hall he could get better suited clothes to wear on all the rest of them. _

_ “You’ll see Yuuri, once we are at my home you will have more clothes than you can think off.”  _

_ Yuuri had just stammered that he only needed a few outfits, but Victor had simply laughed it off. _

~~

He wasn’t laughing at seeing the entire entry way to the Main Hall filled with piles upon piles of presents. Every table that was normally decked with small knick-knacks or vases of flowers were now covered with them, and where no more room was on the table there were presents shoved under them.

Yakov came stalking at them and by the fact that no less than seven of his horns were on full display Victor knew the man was steaming. He was already squaring his shoulders and intent to step away from Yuuri to spare him the shock of feeling Yakov bellow out at Victor when Yakov’s eyes swivel to his left and actually settle on Yuuri instead. So Victor takes a step sideways and blocks Yuuri from Yakov’s snarl.

“In all of my years of life, I never have seen such behavior.” His pupil split up and soft tendrils of cold air form a cloud of smoke around his head. “May I know what kind of people you associate yourself with that they believe they can simply send goods and trinkets to our Main Hall as if it means nothing?” 

Yuuri looks startled for a moment, making Victor want to take him away from Yakov and hide him somewhere till the man’s mood has settled down a bit. But than, as if he remembers something silly, he starts to smile. 

“I think it is because it is actually my Birthday Sir. My family and friends have always already been very giving. With Hasetsu being a fairly small clan and my position as Insurance being of such a high regard they must have gotten everyone to want to celebrate it.” 

He bows deeply a blush settling on the back of his neck.

“My deepest apologies that I had not seen this coming. I should have warned you about it and told them to keep it within reasonable measures.” 

Victor looks at Yakov who to his great amazement is smiling softly, all his horns subtracted. 

“Oh well, at least you know to warn them properly. We can’t keep having things like this happen or we won’t get anything done that needs to be done.” 

Victor grins when he sees Yuuri try to leave even more apologies, he now knows what to do. After he is certain Yakov and Lilia had planned a most boring celebration for his return.

“Yakov, could you arrange that tonight’s festivities are in honor of Yuuri’s birthday.” His head adviser gives him a crass look. “After all we can not make our honorable guest feel like we do not appreciate him properly. I’m certain it will lift everyone’s spirit and help him feel right at home.” 

“You don’t have to” Yuuri shakes his hands to accentuate his words. “Really.” 

Victor just looks at him for a moment before getting a devilish grin on his face.

“Oh you don’t think we of Frost know how to hold a party.” 

“What!?!” Yuuri freezes in his movement. “I never said that, I wouldn’t say that.” 

“Then it’s decided. Tonight we will celebrate your birthday.” 

That evening Yuuri was presented with a party in true Frost style. Victor had managed to get his people to really get into the celebration. Because of this there was now a large group doing a traditional dance that involved jumping around on their hunches while tossing around swords. 

Yuuri was staring at them looking quite impressed, still holding to his preferred drink. Which wasn’t either the wine or the mead Victor had asked Lilia to allow to be brought up for the night. 

“Yuuri” Victor stands on his chair, waving his glass that he is certain is filled for the umpteenth time. “Come here. We are going to give a toast to your well being. I simply do not permit you to not join us. One drink will not kill you.” He grins like a small child when Yuuri shakes his head and walks over. Telling him it can really only be one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't know when chapter 3 goes up. Personally hope it will be on Friday, but I want the editing done right. After that I need to check for spelling errors.
> 
> But let me know what you thought of this one either by leaving a comment or leaving a kudo if you haven't yet. :}


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know. I'm late. Although I had every intent to have it posted no later than Friday some things had come up and I ended up running a whole three days behind my own schedule. 
> 
> But here it is Chapter 3!!
> 
> And as it is from Yuuri's POV, and we all know he got drunk. 
> 
> Well we are keeping what happened at the celebration a secret for just a little bit longer. ;}

Yuuri woke greeted by the scary sight of deep, dark, slitted, eyes staring down at him. The pounding in his head makes it impossible for him to form enough brainpower to remember what he could have done to get such a look focused on him. But there was enough knowledge left between the definite stings of hangover to know that whatever he had done Yakov was angry.

At least as far as the whole litany of small and larger horns sprouting all over the man’s face is any indication. 

Yuuri tries to sit up from the odd slumped pose he finds himself in but is hindered by a dead weight on his lap. When he looks down he can see silver locks messily spread out over his abdomen area. 

He blinks a few times when he realizes Victor isn’t just lying on top of him, both of them are utterly disheveled, the hem of Yuuri’s shirt pulled between his lips as if he’s still a little suckling. 

“Why is Victor sleeping on me?” Yuuri says in a daze. “Shouldn’t he be in his own room?” 

He looks up when he hears an annoyed snort. Yakov giving him a calm glare before he unceremoniously takes Victor’s arm and pulls the other dragon off of Yuuri and unto the floor. It is only when the pattern of the tiles register to Yuuri that he realizes they are still in the large hall the celebration was held in. 

“Yes.” Yakov calmly says while icy smoke curls out of his nostrils. “In a universe either of you knew how to behave properly while drunk you would have had the decency to end this party in your own rooms. And not curled into each other,” he sighs loudly, “tucked in the Ceremonial chair,” he takes another deep breath “IN NOTHING BUT YOUR UNDERCLOTHING!!!!” 

Victor lets out a loud whimpering from the floor looking up at Yakov with a heavy pout making him look even more like a petulant child than the great Ruler of Frost and all the Dragons of the known and unknown planes. 

“Ah Yakov.” He says while switching between looking at Yakov and Yuuri. “Did you have to be so crude to awaken us. I am certain we would have roused just fine with a more gentle hand.” 

Yuuri wants to agree when the sounds in the room suddenly start filtering in. One look around tells him that the cleanup is already heavy on it’s way as he can see several servants walk out with tray upon tray of dirty dishes for the kitchens to clean. 

“What time is it?” Yuuri vaguely remembered Victor saying something about giving everyone of till after secondaries. So if people were already working then surely. 

“It is a quarter hour past noon.” Yakov informs him calmly before setting his sight back on Victor. “And to answer your statement Sire. I am the fifth person that came to wake you. So clearly a gentle hand is beyond your abilities to accept.” 

“Oh.” 

Yuuri can’t help but agree with Victor in that statement.

“I see.” Yuuri feels the heat settle on his cheeks and knows he must be blushing deeply. “We have inconvenienced people. If there is anything we an do…” 

“Help clean up. Most of the stuff lying about are your presents. At least have the decency to show people you care about the decorum of Frost by packing them away in the rooms assigned to you.” 

His eyes settle on Victor. “And you can help him with it.” 

Victor opens his mouth, probably to objet as Yuuri could not imagine him wanting to carry around his belongings like some servant, but Yakov shuts him up before he can even start forming sounds. 

“Don’t bother. I have assigned Georgi with the task of finding all the corresponding notes and gift-tags to store them into the archives. He can do it without getting too distracted.” 

Yakov turns around and starts walking away before turning back around. “And no! You can’t go and get properly dressed and washed and eat first, because knowing you that will end up taking all day.” 

Both Yuuri and Victor’s stomachs object but Yakov simply ignores it and moves to delegate work elsewhere.

In the end it took them several trips balancing several presents and boxes up to Yuuri’s designated study before they were done. If not for several of the servants slipping them things to eat and some refreshments to drink they would have done a whole day without anything. 

On his final trip up Yuuri felt certain they had gotten every gift that had been loitered about in the main hall. The box currently in his arms is filled with small bottles with lotions and other liquids people thought he might need during his stay in Frost. 

One glance told him there were hairtonics, and suncreams. Something he had quickly found out he desperately needed with all the snow around. There were even some questionable bottles he feared contained more inappropriate things. He was so going to hide them someplace they could not be found. 

He’s still going over all the possible places he could put some of the bottles when he enters the study and finds Victor with an intricate trinket hanging from his hand. One he knows all too well. 

“I can’t believe she gave me this.” he pulls it from Victor’s hands and holds it into the small beam of light that comes from the reading light on the desk. “I used to love this as a child.” 

He smiles softly. “I’m too honored to be gifted this.” 

His eyes scan the room trying to determine what could possibly be the best spot to hang it from, before they spot the complicated look on Victor’s face. It makes his movement stutter and had Victor not reached out to grab his arm he would have surely fallen. 

How could he forget that most Frost dragons never travel across the borders, only traders and diplomats -or dancers- would have gotten permission, so it was very possible Victor even though he had traveled had never seen something like this before. 

“Ah, you might wonder what this is?” Yuuri shows him the trinket.

“I know what it is.” Victor says with a sad tone to his voice. “My mother originally came from the Flower Plains. She told me about these many a time growing up, and when I was still dancing I had made it my goal to bring her one back from my trip if I ever managed to go there.” 

He leans forward, slipping his one hand around the one from Yuuri that holds the small cord the soft chime is hanging on, his other softly caresses the glass flowers. 

“What I wonder though is how a dragon from Ember ha one in his possession.” 

Yuuri starts blushing. He can feel the heat of his blood creeping up his cheeks and quickly reverts his eyes away from Victor’s direct stare. He swallows deeply. How come Victor’s actions and looks feel far more personal than they had done before. He shakes his head, he must be imagining things. 

“My Guardian aunt Minako traveled to the Flower Plains when she was a dancer in her younger years. She was one of the greats, but the moment she knew my mother was gonna have my sister Mari she came back and settled in out homestead. This was one of the many memento’s she had brought back with her.” 

Yuuri smiled remembering simpler younger days. “As our parents were often hard at work, we as young little dragon sucklings were often taken with her to her dance studio where she taught her classes. This chime always hung in front of the largest window where it could catch the best rays of light throughout the day.” 

Yuuri glances past Victor to see what else could be in the box the chime had come out of. He lets out a delighted squeak before pushing Victor aside and pull item after item from the box. Telling Victor their exact importance in his life. His glee so infectious that Victor is smiling alongside him when he tells him about the blanket his mother used to wattle him in to get him to sleep, or the spatula his father handcrafted as he refused to raise a child that did not know how to cook, or how the pack of cards was the one his sister always pulled out to play games with him. 

He doesn’t even stutter when Victor pulls the soft from age blanket up to his nose and states he can smell Yuuri on it. Or when he takes the half-beaten and clearly in need of restuffing cuddle toy from Yuuri’s hands and places a soft kiss on the toy’s head.

“Oh Yuuri this is indeed a wonderful gift you were sent. But why did they sent it now? Did you leave it at home when you returned from Fairling?” Victor leans forward and puts the toy in Yuuri’s lap. 

“I did not take these items with me to Fairling. I had to go back to Ember every two years to have my papers to study in Fairling renewed. They were simply always there if I needed them.” 

Yuuri’s shoulder slump down a bit, reminded of the reason why his family probably did sent this box. “After all as I am the Insurance I am barred from traveling to any other land if I am not traveling alongside you or the Scepter. Only the most grievous of situations could find me in a position I might be allowed otherwise.” 

Victor sighs deeply. “I would not wish for something like that to happen.” 

Both look back at the box. Yuuri softly sighs, as much as he loves the items they have reminded him of his duties quite distinctively. 

Victor startles him by grabbing his shoulders and turning him to face him. “We could invite them over one things have calmed down. Surely even Lilia can convince Yakov to allow me that.” He grins widely making Yuuri’s heart stutter. “All we need to do is make certain we manage to stay on both of their good sides.” 

**

Victor rushes off to one of the lavatories just before they enter the large banquet halls at Frost’s Main Hall, something he had been doing for a few days now. Yuuri feared he had contracted some stress-induced flu. The man was a perfectionist, and things had not gone completely perfect over the last three months. Not perfect at all.

~~

_ For one they had only managed to stay on Yakov’s good side for a little over two weeks. They had visited clan Plisetsky, a small but affluent clan whos Elder had backed Victor early on when he made his claim for Rulership.  _

_ Poorly the clan’s leader’s grandson had taken quite an offence to him and Yuuri sharing the same name. Causing him to keep trying to find new and better things to call him instead. Yuuri had just let him but it had greatly annoyed Victor.  _

_ All would have not been lost though if not right in the middle of the introductions Makka had spotted Yura’s cat.  _

_ So Yuuri had been making his apologies, trying to help retrieve the cat from the wall it had managed to scale, while Victor was standing at the side scolding Makka about how chasing cats they did not know was a sign of bad manner.  _

_ Both of them had gotten severely scolded by Yakov after that. To the point he had threatened that if they did not manage to keep the dog under better control he would send Makka back to the Great Hall and they could do the remainder of the introductions without the dog with them.  _

_ It had taken them two days to get back in his good grace.  _

_ Then the visit to the Asiminov clan happened.  _

_ Apparently the Asiminovs had refused to back Victor when he was going for rulership for no other reason than that they hated the color blue. Victor had calmly explained to Yuuri that this was because not one in the long history of the family had any born Asiminov been graced with blue eyes. Something coveted by Frost dragons as it was seen as a sign of great fortune.  _

_ It would of course have been better if he hadn’t been telling Yuuri this after the clan leader had spend a good deal of an hour literally screaming in Yuuri’s face for wearing a blue ribbon to hold his coat closed.  _

_ A ribbon Victor had been more than eager to toss in the Asiminov’s fireplace to as he stated ‘remove the affronted item from the scene’. Yakov had only just not burst a vein after that.  _

_ Lilia had been contacted and afterwards every visit they were scheduled to go to was preluded by a visit to her office and list upon list of rules of conduct, facts of the to visit clan. Or any and all things they needed to know of the guests visiting the many dinner held in the banquet at Frost Main Hall.  _

_ Over the course of weeks though Yuuri had spotted more and more signs of fatigue on Victor. Especially right after he had shifted from dragon to human. Not so much when he changed to dragon form but Yuuri suspected it had more to do with him using his element to hide it better.  _

_ Just the other day, Victor had taken a small detour when on their way to a remote clan. He had needed to simply catch his breath. He had denied anything to be wrong with him though. _

_ “Honestly Victor. If you are not feeling well I have no doubt Lilia would put in some time for you to recover.” Yuuri had said loudly trying to get over the howling winds that found their way into the narrow pass Victor had landed in.  _

_ “Do not be silly Yuuri dear.” Victor had managed a teasing wink at stating the endearment. Something he had started to put into nearly every sentence he spoke to Yuuri. Over the past few months he had started to get used to them. Those and Victor’s inane need to hug or touch Yuuri whenever they were close. Yuuri just tsked at him.  _

_ “Do not claim you were winded by the change in wind direction I have seen you best worse.” Yuuri shivered at the memory of some of those tactics. “If it is the stress just be wise and ask for a more lenient schedule. Frost and all of dragon kind have no use for a Ruler that overdoes it.”  _

_ “Ah Yuuri.” Victor nuzzled his snout into Yuuri’s stomach. “You do care. I was starting to think you had changed your mind about us being more than just Ruler and Insurance.”  _

_ Yuuri had rolled his eyes at that statement, he could not remember when he should have said something like that but it was Victor’s favorite thing to say as it would always get a reaction out of Yuuri.  _

_ “If you are done catching your breath, which I am starting to think was solely done to embarrass me, we should be going. Yakov will have your hide tanned for certain.”  _

_ Yuuri had climbed back in the rider seat, and they had set off.  _

_ When they had arrived at the clan they were going to Victor had tossed the content of his stomach almost immediately at changing. He had claimed it was due to the acidity of the air around. Yuuri had simply patted his back, made him dress i warmer clothes than normal and decided to take precautions once they were back at Frost Main Hall _

_ ~~ _

Victor steps out of the lavatory looking slightly better than when he ran in but still clearly under the weather as Yuuri’s mom would say. His hand clenched over his stomach a sign it was still acting up. 

Yuuri was glad he had taken the initiative to seek out Lilia a day earlier and ask her to change the hearty meal originally planned to something of a much lighter category. It did not seem Victor would have been able to handle a sturdy meal at all. Yuuri just hoped he could spot it if his condition worried at any moment during the evening.

They seat themselves at the head of the table as their stations demand them to, finding the first course of small appetizers being served almost before Victor is even finished with welcoming all of the members of the main court to that nights dinner. 

All goes well until during the third course one of the more pompous Lords leans over to whisper something in Victor’s ear. Yuuri sitting right between Victor and where the man is standing gets hit by the man’s overwhelming cologne. 

Victor’s breath hitches, his color changes from pale to paler to a sickening green, and he unloads all he had eaten over the man and Yuuri. There’s some hiccuped breathing while Yuuri quickly stands up, this causes the second wave to just miss him. 

“My deepest apologies Generous people of the court. It seems his lordship is ill and needs to take his rest.” 

Yuuri slides his arm under Victor’s and pulls him up out of his chair. Once he has him on his feet he turn to acknowledge the Lord that was spat on. “Please Lord go along with Georgi here, he will make certain you are cleaned up.” He turns to the rest of the table. “Please let this not distract you of the wonderful meals that were prepared. We do hope you all will have a wonderful evening still.” 

He eyes one of the servants and mouths for them to start pouring in some heftier wines. If there is anything he has learned over the past few months it’s that Frost dragons are far more agreeable if you just pour enough alcohol in them. 

When he finds Victor not responsive enough to actually walk on his own out of the banquet and to his room Yuuri does the one thing he can think of to make certain they get to Victor’s private rooms as fast as he can. 

Once there he is presented with the embarrassing task to disrobe Victor as he can hardly lie the man between his sheets in his soiled clothes. The clothes come off fairly simple, revealing Victor’s slender shape to Yuuri as he had once again forgone undergarments. 

Yuuri tries and fails to spot the way the past few months have changed Victor’s once ironclad physique. Spotting even a small tummy caused by all the dinners they had to attend everywhere. Yuuri knew he had one quite similar and was even a bit happy that in all his perfection Victor was just a bit like Yuuri after all. 

“At least I have gotten accustomed in seeing you naked from all the times we have to travel to other clans or this would have been too much for me.” Yuuri says to the conscious but unresponsive man before putting him between his sheets. “No do not move, I’ll be right back.” 

He quickly runs to the adjacent bathroom to get a small cloth wet. He sees the questioning look on Victor’s face when he returns with it to the bedroom. 

“Let me clean you up a bit, for if I know Yakov he will be here shortly with probably every medic in the whole Hall in tow.” he smiles when Victor gives a soft hum. “Try to rest a bit. I do think you are over stressing yourself.” 

Yuuri startles when the doors to the room get tossed open and Yakov barges in followed by what indeed seem to be every medic to be found in the Hall. 

Yakov takes one look at Yuuri and tells him to go to his own room, remove his clothes and take a bath. Or as he states it ‘One could get ill simply by smelling you’.

Yuuri smiles softly and takes his leave immediately, convinced without a doubt the man has a horrid soft spot for Victor and in his worried was quite hard pressed to hide it completely. 

The next morning when Yuuri goes down for breakfast he finds the whole of the Hall in an uproar. Yuuri tries to pick up some of the things being said but although the whispers are aplenty poorly also all in the heave accented language common in Frost and Yuuri had not quite mastered it yet as Victor insisted in speaking the more neutral version of the language when communicating with Yuuri or other clans. 

He tries to enjoy his small array of food while getting increasingly more worried about what could be the matter. Every bite goes down harder than the one before it. 

“Is it true they called for Lady Evgenia?” He hears one of the lower courtiers ask one of the guards near Yuuri’s seat. 

A shiver goes down his spine at hearing that name. Victor had mentioned that name as belonging to one of the oldest and wisest among the Elders. She had retreater herself into seclusion over five hundred years ago when she was already at a very respectable age. For her to be called in, Yuuri felt his interest in his breakfast fall away completely.

“Not only did they call upon her when every one of our medics had come up empty handed to find what could possible have caused Lord Victor to become as ill as he is, but she came out of seclusion the moment she received the message.” The guard is more than eager to replay.

“You mean?” 

The guard nods. “She arrived just an hour ago and is still examining him now. Surely she must find whatever could be wrong. For if she can’t no one can.” 

The courtier sighs. “I hate for it to be something life-threatening. If so we will surely end up with the previous Ruler again.” 

Yuuri felt his blood turn in his vein. The thought of Victor fighting for his life this very minute makes him feel increasingly ill. He drops his fork back onto his plate and runs out of the dining hall. Not seeing some of the looks he receives in passing, or hearing the increased whispers once he is gone. 

He has but one thought in his mind. To get to Victor, to be with Victor. Surely as one that studied alchemy there must be something he can do. If not to cure him, then something that would ease his ailment. His thoughts tumble over one another trying to remember every little thing he had ever been taught and how he might be able to help Victor with it. 

Before he can barge into Victor’s rooms declaring his intent to help he is halted quite suddenly when a guard steps in his way. A guard positioned at Victor’s doors. Beside him another guard also keeping guard at Victor’s doors. 

There have never been guards standing at Victor’s doors while they were in the Main Hall before. Even out visiting clans there would only be one or two people keeping sight on either way of the hallway their rooms were, as some had rather seen the previous Ruler or even one of their own clan become the owner of the Scepter. 

“Ah Master Yuuri.” Yuuri recognizes the man talking to him as Ilya, a pleasant person Yuuri thought he might be able to become friends with. Although he is normally a very smiling person he now looks slightly concerned. 

“I’m sorry, but the Lady Evgenia has forbidden access to Lord Victor’s chamber to anyone but her and Lord Yakov while she is assessing the condition our Lord is in.” 

The other guard leans over to Yuuri after looking around to be certain there is no one else to hear him speak. “I am certain that as you are the Insurance I can tell you this.” He looks around again. Never had Yuuri seen him this paranoid. “When we arrived with the Lady Evgenia the other medics were still discussing the situation. They think he was poisoned.” 

Yuuri’s breath stutters and he knows he looks shocked and appalled at the declaration. 

“They just can’t figure out how. All his food is checked by the most trusted of people before it comes even near him. His rations when traveling are monitored. They apparently made him recite everything he has eaten or drank over the past few weeks just to be certain he has not slipped something past control.” 

Yuuri’s eyes widen, his mind going in overdrive trying to think of a moment during their latest travels Victor had eaten or drank something that had not been screened by the people Yakov had sent with them. Even some harmless candy had been declined at first. 

Except they had eaten it. As one can not harm the Insurance without breaking the treaty, Victor had taken one after Yuuri had eaten a piece. But even so, if there had been poison in them wouldn’t Yuuri have gotten ill as well. Victor had been adamant in sharing everything with Yuuri. 

Unless the poison was designed to work specifically for Frost dragons, with Yuuri not having a drop of frost blood in his veins something like that would surely not inflict him at all. 

Yuuri rubs his forehead. Surely Phichit would know what to do. He has a knack for potions like that. If only Yuuri had had this information when he sent his letter out last night he could have asked. 

He looks up at the two guards, almost tempted to ask if one of them could deliver a message to Phichit for him but as eager as they were to leave last night he doubts they have any interest to leave right now.

~~

_ “I’m telling you, I am far more suited to go and deliver this message.” Yuuri heard the voice of Ilya ring out the moment he pushed the door open with his letter to Phichit in hand. “I know those mountain ranges better than you, my homestead lies on one of their peaks.”  _

_ “But I am a faster flyer and it sounds like urgency is of the matter here.”  _

_ “Ah Mishka,” Ilya said with a teasing tone. “We both know you are the faster one among the two of us.”  _

_ “Uhm excuse me.” Yuuri decided to interrupt them before whatever they were discussing became to personal.  _

_ “Ah Master Yuuri.” Ilya greeted him with glee. “How can we help you this evening.”  _

_ Yuuri smiled. He had been so happy the first time Ilya had offered to deliver his letters to Phichit for him. Because of their isolated nature Frost could not boast a strong mail delivery service, so if one wanted news to be sent out one would either wait for a passing tradesgroup or ask one of the guards to do it on their routine flights between Halls and Steads. _

_ “I’ve written another letter to my friend after tonight’s events,” Yuuri blinked when he for a moment spotted guilty looks on their faces, but it was gone and Yuuri simply blamed the lateness of the night, the events earlier at the banquet, and the fact he was still a bit drowsy from his bath. “And well I wondered if you know who was going to be flying in that direction any time soon so that it can be delivered?”  _

_ “You are in luck Master Yuuri.” Ilya took the envelope from his hand. “It just so happened that we were asked to deliver an urgent message to a dragon in that direction so I can take this right along with that as I know the route well and know where to find this friend of yours best.”  _

_ The other guard snorted at that and mumbled cheat under his breath.  _

_ Yuuri fearing he may have caused issues between the two of them, and he believed they might be more than just simple colleagues, had quickly bid his good nights and had returned to his room not to come out till he had gone for breakfast.  _

~~

He is pondering if he should ask if the message they were talking about had been about the Lady Evgenia when a loud yell from inside the room has all three of them jump up. Before the guards can respond and see what is going on they have to take a big jump back when Yakov smashes the doors open so forcefully they are barely managing to stay in their setting. 

All three of them just stare when he bellows out Yuuri’s name so loudly they can hear the windows down the hall breaking over the ringing in their ears. 

Yakov’s face is riddled with horns and smoke is coming off of him in waves. But as it was him that was called Yuuri can’t do anything but calmly step forwards and announces his presence.

“I’m already here Sir, no need to yell.” 

When Yakov’s eyes focus on him there is no shred of Human guise to be seen anywhere. Making Yuuri shiver where he stands. 

“Come in here this instant and tell me how the unseens name you managed to get Victor in this bloody situation. If it isn’t bad enough this will complicate his job to Rule he is already being a right big idiot for not listening to me.” 

His breathing hitches and he makes a squeaking sound that is by the glare given to him by Yakov a very undignified thing for him to do. Surely he could not think Yuuri was to blame for whatever was ailing Victor?

“Ah Yakov, don’t be mean like that.” Victor’s cheerful voice coming from inside the room takes some of the edge of Yuuri’s worries. The man sounds a lot better so perhaps it isn’t that bad. “I’m certain Yuuri is able to give a perfectly good explanation for this.” 

Yuuri follows Yakov into the room, dread falling over him when he catches the cold looks the two guards sent him. Victor is loved among his people and Yuuri is certain this situation has killed any goodwill they had started to feel towards him. 

The door are shut behind them as good as possible can after the damage Yakov had dealt to them. He dreads what he might find in Victor’s bedchambers, his feet drag along when he tries to move in that direction. As eager as he was to go to Victor as much he is scared at what he might find now. 

Yakov though cares not for his feelings and simply grabs him by the arm to drag him into the room along with him. 

The last thing he had expected to find was Victor, propped up in a sitting position among what could only count as every pillow in the rooms, dressed in the most warm nightwear he believed he had ever seen the man in. He has the biggest smile on his face when he sees Yuuri enter.

One shaped like a perfect heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all like the story so far.
> 
> Tell me what you are thinking in the comments, or leave a kudo if you haven't already. 
> 
> A shout out to my artist R-Tengu who had made an offhanded comment early in the beginning in the Fluff bang channels that made me want to add something to this chapter. You have inspired me to make this story better than it already was. :}


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very late as I had an anxiety attack last week that took several days to get sorted out. I thank everyone that was there to listen to me and help me get back to myself.
> 
> This chapter was the most work till now. It is also the longest chapter till now, the next is longer.  
> So many scenes were changed from past to present and from present to past. I've also added more scenes as they are needed to tell the final chapter the way i need it to be told.   
> And I wanted to show Victor as the lovesick darling that he is. :}

Victor stumbles right after he shifts back to human form. He shakes his head to loose the dizziness that clouds his sight for a moment. Opening his eyes to find Yuuri staring at him with worry filled brown eyes. Victor just gives him a wink and a quick smile.

“Lost my footing for a moment. Haven’t have that happen to me since I was a little one barely allowed out to fly.” 

Yuuri wraps a cloak around him. 

“If you are certain that’s all that it is.” Yuuri says with a worried tone to his voice. “You’ve been getting a bit pale lately when you change back. If it is too much trouble to have me as a rider every time we set out let me know. I’m sure we will find a solution if it’s…”

Victor puts his hand over Yuuri’s mouth. “It’s not too much trouble Yuuri dear. I just forgot how taxing the Babicheva clan members are. Having Mila around most days makes you forget she is one of the most relaxed and easy going ones out of the lot. They have just tired me for a bit.” 

He smiles his most reassuring smile and hopes Yuuri doesn’t pick right through it as his darling has been able to do almost every time he tries to pull it on him. 

When Yuuri only rolls his eyes at the endearment and turns to take all of their travel gear with him inside Victor decides to call it a partial win. 

Later that evening after a strenuous dinner with several smaller clan leaders, whose steads are close to the Main Hall, came to be introduced to the Insurance, Victor finds himself in his seating room sharing a drink with Georgi. Yuuri had left early, nearly tumbling over on his feet, and choosing to go to bed over talking the day over with Victor as they tended to do. He had made Victor promise not to make it too late as he needed to take his rest.   

“He’s so adorable when he is worried for me Zhora.” Victor says before he takes a sip from his mead. He gives his drink an odd look, then he looks up at his old friend.

“Is this?” 

Georgi takes a sip before he answers. Although the disapproving look crossing his face tells Victor all he needs to know. 

“He’s not the only one worried for you Vitok.” Georgi puts down his glass. “You have become more pale, even for your standards, every time you return.” He smiles at his friend. “We all know how hard you work, how diligent you are in getting everything perfect. It is why Lady Lilia and Lord Yakov push you so hard. They know you will not be content unless you get it done just the way you want it to be.” 

He sighs. “But it doesn’t mean we do not worry for you.” 

Victor smiles and pats his friend on the knee. “You clearly worry enough to share this horrible concoction with me. Whatever did you put in it. It taste worse than that time you had tried to brew your own Vodka.”

Georgi starts laughing remembering the look on Yakov’s face when he discovered a large chunk of his steads basement blown away from one of Georgi’s experiments. 

“Just so you know he still does not allow me to brew something without supervision. One would think that after more than a century he would be over it already.” Georgi smiles. “Mila brew this. Apparently it is a Babicheva home remedy. Her grandmother had sent back some of the ingredients with your retinue. So clearly you did not do a good job not looking a bit dizzy there as well as she sent a letter along stating some grave concerns.” 

Victor’s shoulders slump. “Ai, I did not know somebody saw that. Even Yuuri had not seen it.” 

“Seen, What, Vitok.” Georgi’s voice gets a harsh tone. 

“Right after we arrived I, well I,” Victor rubs his necks, knowing Georgi won’t say anything till he continues “I tossed my breakfast.” 

“Victor!!” Georgi jumps up and would have run out of the room if not for Victor’s hand on his arm. 

“Seriously I was alright almost immediately after. I just hadn’t slept well.” 

“You have been sleeping less well than you should.” Georgi says this while sitting back down. “Being the Ruler is a great responsibility. Are you certain you are not getting fatigued with all the traveling and shifting you do?” 

“Shift fatigue.” Victor looks up. “Do I look to you like a small child that hasn’t gotten everything sorted out yet.” 

“No.” The shake is definite. “You look like my dear old friend who is in his prime and is shifting at a near daily basis. It is tiresome, it is why so many stop doing it and choose a permanent form to remain in.” 

“I can’t slow down now Zhora. I finally have everything that I want.” 

Georgi simply pulls up an eyebrow before giving a pointed look at Victor’s empty bed visible through the open door. “Everything?” 

“He’s reserved Zhora. We may have gotten him to loosen up some once but he is still the Insurance. There is an almost greater pressure on him to do everything right then there is on me. For now it is sufficient that we are together. Even if for propriety matters we can’t be absolutely together.” 

“Ah yes.” Georgi nods. “The marriage requests. I believe we have received near a half a dozen just in the last few days again.”

“Some people are still dead set on making me find a mate and produce future dancers or Lords for their clans. I could lose quite some support if they found out I already have my one. My mate.” 

“You two did look nice together.” Georgi hums with a lovelorn look on his face. “Just the way you two were all cuddled together before Yakov woke you up after his birthday party.” 

“Shut up.” Victor tosses a pillow. “That was a great day.” 

~

_ Victor looked around his Yuuri’s study, a giggle bubbles past his lips just thinking that.  _

_ His Yuuri. _

_ So many fantasies and lonely nights over the past century dreaming of that beautiful brown eyed dragon at the Exchange of Power and now he could call Yuuri his.  _

_ He put down the last of the boxes he had taken with him from the Grand Hall. How loved his Yuuri is among his clan and his people. Hopefully Victor’s clan would love him just as much very soon as well. So much joy had been on his face when he was unpacking gift after gift.  _

_ The blushes that had graced his cheeks when the content was more salacious than celebrative. Victor hummed. A quick look around told him those bottles and vials weren’t anywhere where he could find them. Maybe Yuuri put them in his bedroom.  _

_ He turned to leave the room, then turned around again when he noticed the mark on the box set on the desk. His fingers slid over the raised mark signifying it came from the Katsuki stead. His Yuuri’s homestead.  _

_ Unable to contain himself Victor opened the box and took a look inside. _

_ For a moment Victor wondered if this wasn’t a present at all, all the items inside seemed well used and looked more like things people just have lying around. He moved to close the box when his eyes fell on a familiar thing. Something that should not have been in a box filled with items from Ember.  _

_ He took out the small chime admiring the delicate glass flowers, not realizing Yuuri had walked in with the last boxes.  _

_ Yuuri had let out a very adorable squeak before taking the chime from Victor’s hand, their fingers gracing for only the shortest of moments. His eyes had sparkled and the blush gracing his cheeks had been almost kissable.  _

_ Before Victor had been able to give in though Yuuri had turned to him and started to tell him exactly how a Flower Plains sun chime had come into the possession of a dragon in Ember. Victor had not seen one for so many years, not since his father, right after his mother had escaped Frost to go back to the one she loved, had destroyed the one Victor had brought back for during his first travel to the Plains as a dancer.  _

_ The rest of the evening had been spent listening to Yuuri reminisce stories of his childhood with every item he took from that box. _

_ Victor had not been able to contain himself and had taken a sniff at the blanket after Yuuri had told him how his mother used to wrap him in to make him sleep. He swore he was still able to smell traces of little Yuuri embedded into the fabric. The laugh he got was invigorating.  _

_ The small cuddle toy that looked a lot like his Makka had been adorable too, Victor took it from Yuuri’s hands and held it up to his face to make a boof sound before he placed a kiss on the toy’s head. The soft look on Yuuri’s face. Victor had wanted to kiss him.  _

_ And then he had to ruin it all by asking why the items had been sent to Frost. Reminding Victor that Yuuri essentially was as trapped in Frost as his mother had been at one point in time.  _

~~

After that night Georgi made certain that upon arriving there would be a potion ready for Victor to take. The first few times it had been that horrendous thing Mila had brewed but soon he started to taste Georgi’s hand in it. At least it had been doable in combination with wine or mead but soon even the scent of those had started to make Victor feel queasy. Quite ill even if his recent run to the closest lavatory was any indication. 

They had only just arrived at Clan Smirnov, one of Frost’s leading distillery clans, when the smell of alcohol had made Victor dash into the closest lavatory and empty his stomach from the wonderful lunch his Yuuri had shared with him. He sighed deeply, hoping he could save at least a bit of his dignity.

The Smirnov’s had openly supported the previous Ruler and made it no secret that they saw no sense in following Victor’s leadership in anything. They had made several jabs at him being a weak copy of his father and ill fitted to take on such an important task. 

Lilia had made it very clear that getting this clan to see that he was a good leader, that he and the Insurance were a strong team together, was of the utmost importance. Yet their first impression was of him nearly running Yuuri over in his haste to get to a place to relieve himself as fast as possible. His only luck was that he had not done so naked. 

He washes his face, straightens his attire, practices his calm smile, before stepping out. To his amazement he finds Yuuri scolding the clan’s Elders. He’s pointing at several containers that are positioned quite close to the landing platform and makes a clear sign with his hands he is holding the clan leaders accountable for something. 

“It is known that Victor lands as close to the doors as possible before changing back as to make certain I have as little exposure to the harsh Frost weather.” Yuuri straightens his back and glares at them all. “So what were you thinking dumping waste like that within smelling reach.” 

“Please understand it was just in jest.” Lord Smirnov bows low. “We only wanted to…” 

“Kill me?” Yuuri’s cold tone make all the sounds in the reception hall fall away.

Everyone knows that attempting to do deliberate harm to the Insurance would mean a breach of the Treaty and doom for whoever might be involved. For Yuuri to suggest such a thing, something one could only consider treason, it is shocking even to Victor.

“Do understand Lord Smirnov, if Victor was any less skilled a flyer, any less capable in holding himself to a standard clearly not met by anyone here, the smell of that ‘jest’ of yours could have made him crash. It would have severely hurt him, but it could have killed me.” Yuuri’s says with little warmth to his voice. “The fact you degraded your whole clan by thinking something like that was amusing.” Yuuri shakes his head. 

He then turns to Victor who is staring at him with clear admiration in his eyes. 

“I know Lilia said we should try and be cordial with this clan, but after this stunt I do not feel safe enough to stay for dinner. Are you well enough to leave?” 

Victor looks around and sees that none of the other dragons that had come with them had even shifted to human form or removed their gear. He looks over the shocked faces of the clan leaders. He could understand, because of their importance they had been scheduled to stay for a whole three days. Instead the Insurance had called off the introduction before they even had properly stepped inside. It was truly the greatest insult they could be dealt with and as it was the Insurance that had delivered the judgement they could not even truly protest. 

“I understand your sentiment and share most of it.” Victor nods at the clan’s leaders and Elders. “Still I think we should stay, if only for dinner. They surely would not be foolish enough to try something again.” 

Yuuri for a moment looks like he wants to object, then a contemplative look crosses his face and he nods slowly.  

“For dinner only. We will discuss all that needs to be said during and leave the moment the last dish is cleared.” 

Victor smiles, looks up at clan Smirnov and says. “We will be having dinner as early as possible, after all it is a long flight back to the Main Hall.” 

Yuuri instructs one of their guards to turn about and fly back at once to inform Yakov that they would arrive later that night before stepping next to Victor. Together they step inside as the team they are. All could see the bond between the Ruler and the Insurance was strong. 

Victor had thought the run to the lavatory would have been a one time thing, but after that he would find himself in need to do so more and more often with every visit they made. Clearly he really was dealing with shift fatigue as it was always greatest right after he shifted. In his dragon form he had more control over it but once back in human form it would be nearly unbearable. 

He chuckles to himself while coming out of yet another lavatory. At least he could report to Yakov that the plumbing at most of the steads they visited was of the highest order. His hand moves over his stomach, the soft butterfly twitches telling him his gut wasn’t yet settled. 

If he was very honest he had started to feel this soft fluttering in his stomach even on days he did not shift. He had yet to make a notion of it to Georgi or anyone else as he was certain they would make him take some days off and would force him in bed to rest. But he knew the clans that opposed him would see it as a sign of weakness, and weakness was the one thing he could not show.

That evening he sat as close to Yuuri as he could, calling him small pet names in the Frost dialect that made him blush so adorably. The clan’s leader a stubby old Lady who had been angling for Victor to marry one of her numerous daughters to assure himself of her vote pulled out a small crystal box. 

“I do not know about you boys, but I just can’t resist anything sweet.” She smiles at Victor who simply nods while looking at Yuuri. After all what in the world could be sweeter than his Yuuri. The sudden burst of redness on Yuuri’s face makes Victor realize he might have said it out loud. The Lady pinches her lips but clearly chooses to ignore Victor’s words. “So we have these sweets here that are made especially for me and my guests. Do you want one?” 

She holds the box under Victor’s nose. Angled in such a way that Yuuri can’t even see into it even though they are as close together as proprietary allows them to be. Perhaps a bit closer but only if Victor moves his knee just so. It is clear from her actions she is only offering the candy to Victor. 

He had given the small paper-thin candies a cold look before schooling his most endearing smile. “Surely I can’t accept one before Yuuri has gotten his. It would be unmannerly.” 

The Lady had given him a small glare before presenting the box to Yuuri, at least that meant they weren’t poisonous, who took out a fairly large one. Victor knew Yuuri had a sweet tooth, he found it adorable how he would complain about not being able to eat every desert presented to them during dinners for it would make him far to big. Victor had laughed about it till he had found a small bulge where is skin used to be tight. 

Yuuri tears a small bit from the candy sheet, puts it in his mouth and releases the most heavenly moan Victor has ever heard. 

“Oh Victor this is so good.” He looks at Victor with Eyes shining a thousand sparkles. “You should taste it.” 

The Lady moves the box back to Victor but Yuuri beats her to it by tearing off another bit and offering it to Victor. Not able to resist he takes Yuuri’s wrist in his hand, leans over, and eats the sweet right from Yuuri’s nimble fingers. 

“To be offered a sweet by my sweet, how delightful.” Victor quickly licks over the fingers before Yuuri pulls his hand back. 

The Lady snorts pulling both of their attention back to her. “If only your father could see you now oh Lord Nikiforov.” 

Victor’s face darkens. “As they say my Lady ‘Speak over the death naught but good things’, so let’s not waste any words on him.” 

The next visit they made Victor was hard pressed to remember anything of as he had spent the entirety of their time trying not to be seen as sick. Something he knew he failed in when Yuuri had ordered his servants to get him some warmer clothes for a small walk around the stead. 

Yuuri had been watching him more closely, especially as he had taken a small break during their flight over, not once believing his excuse of being winded. 

Truth was, if not for Yuuri offering his arm to Victor, the first time Yuuri had initiated a touch since his birthday party, he would have surely tumbled over at one of the many stairs this stead was apparently keen on building. 

He points out some of the smaller houses that appeared to have been carved right into the cliff sides. Telling Yuuri about the architecture that went into their design. Yuuri’s eyes had lighted up and he had made a very pleased sound. Victor nearly kissed him. 

“Oh, they look like those hanging villages in Fairling. Phichit would take me there often as he loved the sight of them.” Yuuri had smiles fondly. “If only I could have him visit he would have loved seeing this.” 

This brutal reminder that Yuuri had traveled to Fairling in search of love had greatly spoiled Victor’s mood, he was with Victor now why did he keep bringing up that Feyr. 

When he complained to one of the guards he found out that Yuuri actually was known to write letters to the Feyr on a near daily basis when they were at the Main Hall. 

Victor had blamed the sudden tumble in his stomach to the increasing nausea. For he was most definitely not jealous. Yuuri had clearly chosen him, wanted to be with him. Not with some Feyr.

**

Victor blinks up weakly to the sight of the ceiling in his bedroom, why was he here, wasn’t he supposed to be someplace else? He tries to push himself up but a cool hand on his chest presses him back into his sheets. 

“No.” Yuuri says calmly. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” 

His hand hovers near Victor’s cheek as if to caress it but the withdraws it before giving in or allowing Victor to nuzzle closer. 

Yuuri returns with a wet cloth and quickly cleans Victor’s face. He vaguely hears him say something about Yakov and some medics. He has no doubt Yakov will make a scene, the old man doesn’t want to admit it but Victor was taught by the best for those. A pleased hum leaves his lips from the memory of a very young Victor being Introduced to Yakov for the first time. 

A memory that bleaks in the sight of his main advisor coming into his rooms with what Victor can only assume is indeed every single medic in the Hall. The worried look in his eyes and the twitch at the corner of his mouth take all the bite out his threat to make him clean the whole Hall by hand. Even if Victor is well aware he would have made him do it, Ruler or not. 

Victor wants to voice an objection when Yakov sends Yuuri away, after all if he just needs to be cleaned up he could use Victor’s bathroom, but one look tells Victor something else might be on Yakov’s mind. Yuuri seems to happy to leave Victor though which he doesn’t really wants to admit stings quite a bit.

Yuuri hasn’t even yet closed the door behind him when complete chaos breaks out as every medic tries to be the first to get Victor’s attention to tell him what they believe might be ailing him. Not a single one of them allows another to be the first so all just talk over one another speaking louder and louder until it sounds like a summer market where everyone tries to endorse their own wares the loudest. 

Yakov is getting annoyed and tries to get them all to calm down, there are simply too many for him to get a grip on the situation. They are honestly giving Victor a headache along with his nausea. 

“Quiet!!!” 

Even Yakov shuts his lips at Victor’s yell. 

“People honestly. Are you medics or trying to peddle things on the market? Please have some pity for the ill. I do not need a headache along with everything else I am feeling.” 

At least seven medics try asking him questions about what he’s feeling, Victor understands that if he doesn’t cut them off he’ll be right back at them all screaming over one another. 

“Quiet” 

He smiles when he sees his order followed, at least he still has some authority, even if he is naked and sweaty.

“You will all go into my sitting area.” He raises a hand when objections are made. “Their Yakov will divide you all in groups of three. Every group gets an audience with me for no more than five minutes to ask their questions and take some quick tests.” 

He raises his hands to silence the room again. “I will not be taking any medicine during those audiences, for all you have is speculations and I will not run the risk with my health and the safety of Frost that you speculated it wrong.” 

“After all the groups have had their audiences you will talk over your ideas and finds with one another. I would advise you all do this the moment you have returned to the seating room to be certain I’m not having to deal with multiple groups asking the same things or checking the same vitals. Do not waste my time. Now go.” 

He makes a hand move to indicate they should all leave for the sitting room. Surprisingly all of them do as they are told leaving only Yakov behind. 

“Remarkable. For once you actually are showing the ability to be a true leader.” The man nods and turns but not before Victor had seen the prideful gleam in his eyes. 

~~

_ Victor swayed on his feet, unable to make them stand firmly on the ground, he thought he heard Yuuri say something to him. Then his feet left the ground and he wondered for a moment if he had shifted and was flying but he knew that could not be the case, he would have been much more comfortable in his true form then he was now.  _

_ He had found himself pressed securely against a firm warm chest. His right side all snuggly pressed against the finest fabric Frost had to offer, although it had smelled a bit funky. He had looked up to find himself looking at a very seductive jaw set with determination.  _

_ There was a heat rising in his face and he just knew that he had started blushing. For there could be no more of a humiliating way for the Ruler of Frost to be hauled around then held in someone else's arms like he had been. But it had also felt so very securely he worried he might never wanted to leave those arms either.  _

_ He raised his hand to make Yuuri put him down, one look had made him retract it. He had seen that determined look show up on his beloved's face a couple of times now over the past few weeks and he knew Yuuri’s patience with him had been done for.  _

_ “I’ve already given the servants the order to have medics sent to your room, and I have no doubt they will also inform Lord Yakov and Lady Lilia.” Yuuri bit his lip before he looked back at Victor a scared twitch to the corner of his lovely mouth. “I know getting ill is not a favorable situation, but even you should know when it is time to accept the situation and take a rest.”  _

_ Yuuri pressed a soft kiss on his forehead. “I don’t think you are even hearing me. Just now that Frost needs you Victor. I need you. Please get the help you need and do not be stubborn as it will help you in no way.” Victor had closed his eyes, accepting Yuuri’s aid. _

~~

“Oh that Insurance boy really is a sweetheart ain’t he.” Victor’s eyes pop open at that statement to look at the most cheerful Elder dragon he has ever seen. Their scales have all dulled with age so strongly he wouldn’t be able to tell what color they originally were, making it clear he is looking at an actual ancient one. 

“Well I wouldn’t call me ancient deary. I remember quite some dragons that are far older than I am.” She chuckles at seeing Victor’s face drop when he realizes she responded to his thoughts not his words. 

“And those are all already long dead and mostly forgotten.” Yakov’s scruff voice makes Victor realize there are no other voices in the room. Nor can he hear anything coming out of the adjacent sitting area. 

“They are and good riddance, all they did was fight and make war anyway. My generation was far more agreeable. It is why we have the Treaty of Power after all.” The smugness comes off of the older dragon in waves. 

Finally Victor is able to piece together who this old dragon could possibly be. 

“Lady Evgenia.” he says while trying to push himself up. “I’m honored you even considered coming. Although I can’t think my case is so difficult that your expertise is truly needed.” 

“Says the suckling that literally slept through every medic in the Hall making a ruckus in his sitting area. Honestly had I not chased them away they would still be tossing the one preposterous idea after the other at one another about your condition. You would think they would not have simply checked for the obvious. Impossible yes, but obvious still.” 

Yakov steps forward. “You know what ails him already?” 

Lady Evgenia gives him a calm look. “Of course. I was the head medic in this hall for over two thousand years. You may have only been a young child when I went in seclusion but you were not in any way a foolish one.” 

Yakov nods. The look on his face clearly telling Victor the older man can’t determine if he was just scolded or complimented.  

“Now first get me those pillows I asked you to get before the child woke up and a night shirt, a very warm nightshirt.” Yakov bows and moves to get the items requested. “Oh and get me some tea dear, I am parched you know. Flying at high speed at my age just has the habit of getting to ones throat.” 

Her cheeky silver eyes follow the man on his way out, smiling at Victor when the doors to the bedchamber get closed with a soft click. 

“Now boy do tell me,” She leans forward almost pressing her nuzzle right up to Victor’s nose “I did not want to pry to deeply in your mind so I will be needing actual words.” 

Victor starts telling her about his symptoms but she quickly hushes him. “Those are all completely logic side effects of your current situation. What I want to know is how a perfectly healthy  **_male_ ** dragon managed to get himself knocked up.” 

“Knocked up?” Victor stares at her. “But no one has knocked me for ages, seriously any and all fights I have been in were all very diplomatically dealt with with words.” 

He is shocked to find the elderly dragon nearly topple over from laughing.

“Oh darling, that is not what that means. I want to know how you got pregnant.” 

Victor mouth drops open, surely she can’t be serious. He wants to object that she must be wrong when the fluttering feeling in his abdomen starts acting up again. He presses his hand against the slight swelling he had blamed on all the dinners. 

His eyes go to where his hand is pressed against his skin, if the Lady Evgenia is right than it’s not an abundance of food, not the stress of trying to do everything right, it’s not even fatigue from shifting so often, it is the fact that life has been growing inside of him and has been trying to get him to take better care of them. 

Tears drip on his hand, he feels more slide down his cheeks. A soft sob passes his lips. 

Life. 

“Well the constant shifting did not do you much good, after all baby dragons can’t shift themself yet, so your body changing around them constantly did not really help keep your health up as it irritated them quite a bit.” 

Lady Evgenia places her claw over his hand. “I would say you are about three months along, so it must have happened about the time of the Ceremony of Power, no more than three weeks later.” 

Three months. The Ceremony. Two weeks. Yuuri’s birthday celebration. His ability. 

“Yuuri’s baby.” Victor says softly, another tear dripping down. “We actually did it. We made a baby.” 

“That you did.” Lady Evgenia nods. “Now tell me how before that annoying great-great-grandson of mine returns.” 

~~

_ The evening was coming to an end, no matter how much Victor wanted it to go on. Yuuri twirled him around on the dancefloor before he dipped him deeply. The long black horn’s tip pressed to his forehead, his eyes shining with utter joy. Victor felt elated he was seeing Yuuri like that. So vibrant, so full of life, so desirable.  _

_ “Yuuri, oh Yuuri.” Victor hummed when he was held tightly in his arms when they just swayed with the music. “If only I could keep you.”  _

_ Yuuri hummed against his shoulder. “I would like that. I just know we could be so much more than just Ruler and Insurance.” He pulled away a step, forcing Victor to look at him. “You feel so too right?”  _

_ Victor nodded, a large smile on his face. _

_ They ended up in the Ceremonial chair somehow, Victor nicely tucked on Yuuri’s lap, all cosy and tight together. His golden horns were out like a small crown over his hair, his head pressed against Yuuri’s shoulder, Yuuri’s fingers in his hair to move them out of the way of his face. His fingers were playing with the large horn.  _

_ “My Yuuri, My wonderful, beautiful Yuuri. If those Bull like horns of yours were not already amazing than this horn, like the illustrious Unicorn, would be enough to prove your extraordinarity. I can only imagine a child with horns like that, you must have been so utterly adorable.”  _

_ Yuuri scoffed and snorted. “They would have been so much better had they not been as black as my hair. Had they been gold like yours they would have been so much more wondrous.”  _

_ “If only we could have a child with my colors and your horns. I would never have to worry about you looking at another as we could stay together forever.” Victor hummed softly.  _

_ Yuuri’s hand slipped down to Victor’s stomach. “That would be nice indeed.”  _

~~

Lady Evgenia smiles deeply. “So you both wished for the child to be but even then there is no way it would just magically be so.” 

“It is if you take in consideration that Yuuri can move objects with his very thoughts.” Victor looks at her as if that explains it all, which to him it does. After all Yuuri had told him exactly how strong he was, so surely he could do something like this. 

They can’t say anything more as Yakov returns with a tray of tea and a nightshirt that was old fashioned even when he was younger. But to his amazement Victor makes no complaint when he puts it on. He only makes a fuss when Victor frets about straightening the shirt over his abdomen. 

“Honestly boy there’s no reason to show off the fact you are becoming corpulent in your position as Ruler, I thought you would have more composure to maintain your dancer physique.” Yakov says with a grumble pouring tea in for Lady Evgenia,

“Oh child don’t make such a fuss. I’m certain the little one will get back to his well kept form once the suckling’s in the crib.” Lady Evgenia takes the tiny teacup in her claw blows over it to cool the content before giving it to Victor, who takes it with a small bow from his head.

“And whatever does that mean?” Yakov glowers at Victor, who prevents himself from gushing by taking a calm sip of the tea. 

“Yakov weren’t you asked to bring me more pillows?” He gives his advisor a quick wink over a cheeky smile knowing fully well it will infuriate the older dragon grately. “I’m getting a bit tired holding myself up like this and the Lady Evgenia has said I should be as upright as I can be for a few days to have my condition settle.” Victor takes another slow sip from his tea. 

Yakov grumbles, puts down his own cup of tea, and starts to bring Victor every pillow inside his rooms, even the small ornate one from his study is not spared. Probably in a way of defiance but he is stilled in his grumbling when he sees the Lady arrange every pillow around Victor with delicate care. 

The man sits down a worried look on his face. “Just how bad is it? If it is a poison know I will not stop till every person involved has been traced and put to justice.” 

Lady Evgenia smiles at the clear concern on Yakov’s face.

“Not a poison deary. Just an unexpected pregnancy. And with our darling Ruler a male it might be a bit tricky, especially as he has been shifting and we are yet to tell how that affected the little one.” 

The teacup stills a good two inches before Yakov’s lips, the man blinks, puts the cup back down and actually scowls at Lady Evgenia. 

“Do not jest me Lady. It is your age, lineage, and the fact you were one of the original Treaty writers, that demand the utmost respect from all that are graced in your presence, but I have mustered many feats that require me to be treated with some respect as well so tell me honestly what is the matter with this boy.” Yakov says with a soft near whisper, trying to hide his annoyance. “I have raised this boy since he was barely over seventy and still tended to cling to people’s shirthems. I can handle it.” 

Victor looks at the man that has been more of a father to him than the original Lord Nikiforov ever was a smile gracing his lips.

“She is not jesting you Yakov. By the graces of all the powers that govern us I have been blessed to carry the next generation of my lineage.” Victor says while taking his hand and placing it on the small swell that now that he knows what it means seem to have become even more obvious. “And I would be honored if you considered the child growing here as your own grandchild once it sets out into the world.” 

Yakov stares at Victor, seeing absolutely no deceit in the boys features. His fingers flex over the soft swell. His mind a swarm of contradictory thoughts and feelings. A part of him feels honored to be asked something like that as it would be proof he did well for the boy. Poorly a nearly as great part of him is seeing all the issues this situation will lead to.

“How are we even going to explain this to the other clans. As the Ruler you are seen as the one that takes leadership. There are already doubt going up that you might not be a good fit after all. Lilia and I have been working hard to quench those over the past few weeks. We need you to be at the top of your game.” 

Victor’s hand slips away from the top of Yakov allowing him to pull his hand away.

“What are you saying?” Victor feels tears well up and his throat thickening up. Surely he did not mean what Victor thought he meant.

“As happy as I am for you, you can not keep the child. It will only be of hindrance to your work.” 

Yakov tries to say anything more but finds himself getting struck in the face by a pillow. He looks up shocked at seeing Victor wielding the pillow to strike him again.

“I respect you enough not to use the tray you carried the tea in with but know I will not allow you to continue with this insultive train of words. Know that if you threaten the life of my child one more time I will have you tossed over the border to fend for yourself.” 

“Do not be foolish boy. You know there have been many requests for you to find a mate among the clans that gave their support to you. Do you think you will still have their backing once you calmly state that not only are you unmated but that you carry the child yourself. It will cause a riot.” Yakov looks at Victor with that look that makes it clear he wants Victor to agree with him.

“The Ruler of the Summerland’s spend half of her reign pregnant with her children so there is no issue about a Ruler of Power carrying a child and being capable to fulfil their job.”

Yakov sighs deeply. “She was also mated to the clan leader of one of her greatest backers. They had the support of their people. Frost is not Summerland, our people will hold your mate to the highest scrutiny. Right now Lilia and Me stating you wanted to concentrate on doing right as Ruler of all dragons has been the only reason we have been able to avoid any clans from making any official request for you to mate with one of their daughters.” 

Victor leans back in his pillows, the fight taken out of him for the moment.

“It’s not that I object at being mated, my objection has been and is still that they do not wish to mate me as the person I am with the accomplishments I have achieved. They are only interested in getting their daughters or nieces in the nest of Lord Nikiforov. They already resent my father for taking a mate from the Flower Plains instead of strengthening the ties with his allies they feel they have a right to make me see only a child of Frost as a viable option.”

“If you understand their motivation than be wise and do the right thing.” Yakov starts but can see Victor’s hand move protectively over his abdomen. “How exactly did you get set with child anyway, as last I knew you lacked any part to do so?” 

Victor lights up with that question. “Finally a sensible question.” Yakov scowls at him for that statement. 

“Yuuri has great abilities and they led to us having this child.” 

Yakov’s mouth opens and closes several times before he bellows out “The Insurance!!!” 

Neither Victor or Lady Evgenia are fast enough to stop him from tossing his tea aside and storm to the doors leading out to the hallway. A cloud of smoke follows him where he goes and Victor is certain every horn is sprouted out in his face. 

The loud crash of the doors snapping in their hinges  and him yelling Yuuri’s name has the cups trembling on the tray.

“Honestly that boy has always been so overly dramatic.” Lady Evgenia sighs before filling up the cups again.

“I’m already here Sir, no need to yell” Yuuri’s soft voice drifts in from where the door is, making Victor light up with joy. Yuuri had come back to him. He wondered how long his darling had been waiting to be let in. 

“Ah Yakov, don’t be mean like that. I’m certain Yuuri can give a perfectly good explanation for this.” Victor practically shakes by sheer elation. 

Lady Evgenia chuckles at the obvious delight shown on Victor’s face. ‘Absolutely smitten this one.’ She thinks to herself. She turns towards the door when she hears Yakov coming back with the Insurance dragged by the arm a very worried look on his face.

She blinks a few times then smiles softly. It seems now was indeed a good time to come out of seclusion. She leans back to see how things unfold.

Victor smiles at Yuuri with the biggest smile he can muster without straining himself. “Yuuri I do not know how you did it. It must have been influenced by the great Eros you shown when we danced at your birthday celebration as it is the date that matches it all best.” 

Yuuri blinks a bit owlish. “Matches what Victor. How can us dancing have caused your ailment?” He looks at the verge of breaking in nerves, a look Victor does not like seeing on his beloved’s face as to Victor’s opinion it does not suit him. 

“You made the impossible possible.” Victor spreads his arms to emphasize his words. “You said you could do amazing things with your ability but I had not realized you were able to even remotely do something like this.” 

“The birthday celebration, so this is all something done in a drunken stupor.” Yakov tries not to scream the words. “If causing a scene was not bad enough, this just make it worse.” 

“My birthday celebration?” Yuuri says the words slowly like he is tasting them with the tip of his tongue, a confused look on his face. “But you have been getting ill over the past few weeks, my birthday was near three months ago. How?” 

Lady Evgenia gives Victor a calming look before she leans forward to stare Yuuri straight in his eyes for a moment. Victor, knowing she is reading his thoughts and intents, wonders if he should inform Yuuri what is going on. 

She leans back and gives him a soft but slightly sad smile. “The boy indeed possesses the ability to move any and everything with just the flick of his own thoughts. Now tell me boy, I can see the admiration you have for the young Lord Ruler so I need to know if you did this in a ploy to tie him to yourself above your connection as Ruler of Power and Insurance. Cause no matter how strong you are I find it hard to believe you managed to do such a delicate thing while being in a drunken stupor as darling Yakov stated.” 

Victor looks on at Yuuri’s face slowly losing all of his color, small shivers making his hands shake uncontrollably. When tears form in the corners of his eyes he wants to move up, grab Yuuri and hold him close telling him everything will be alright. 

“I am not certain I understand what you are talking about my Lady. I was told the rumor was that Victor might have gotten poisoned and I can not see that happening from a simple dance.” 

Yuuri swallow harshly, Victor simply pouts. Why is Yuuri making it sound like their dance had not meant much to him. Had he regretted it all this time, was that why he had been keeping his distance to Victor. Not propriety but shame. But why would he feel ashamed for the things he and Victor had done. For what they had spoken about. 

“She is talking about when we had been discussing our horns after we danced.” Victor says in a petulant tone. He is getting irritated with Yuuri’s lackluster response to be reminded of them dancing. 

“Our horns!” Yuuri’s face flushes dark red after those words leave his lips. He then bites his lip but for once Victor finds nothing enticing about it.

“He can barely remember the night.” Lady Evgenia interrupts the threaded silence that was being strung between the two of them. His memories are clouded at best and completely inaccessible for everything else.” 

Victor feels a cold shiver run down his spine. If Yuuri has no memories of the night then does it mean that all Victor thought was between them was simply a story he had been telling himself.

The buzzing that flare up in his ears make him almost miss the next words coming from the Lady Evgenia’s mouth.

“I can make you remember little one but know there are consequences at knowing what you have done.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.
> 
> Please let me know what you think of this story by making a comment. I love hearing them.  
> And if you haven't done so yet, don't forget to leave a kudo to show your appreciation of my work. :}


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long absence.  
> It was never my intention for the break to span nearly 2 months!!! Really, I wasn't even planning more than 2 weeks.
> 
> Poorly real life got in the way of everything else and I needed the extra time to actually get back to myself.
> 
> It's all still a mess but this chapter is done, and I even managed to keep it under 10k (mostly by taking some scenes and putting them in the next chapter but still).

Yuuri stumbles over his own feet when Victor’s smile widens even more. “Yuuri!! I don’t know how you did it. It must have been your great Eros when we danced at your Birthday, as that day matches best.” Victor seems overly delighted.

Maybe whatever is ailing him has made him slightly delusional, why else would he mention Yuuri’s birthday from three months ago when he has only been getting ill over the past few weeks. Unless what ails him has been troubling him for longer and he had just stopped being able to hide it.

Trying to make sense of the situation Yuuri tries to see if he can get more information from Victor. “Matches what Victor?” Yuuri bites his bottom lip, surely he didn’t like drop Victor that evening and caused some unforeseen brain damage. That wouldn’t be good at all. “How can us dancing have caused your ailment?”

Victor’s eyebrows pinch closer flashing an annoyed look on his face before he straightens them and grins even wider. “You made the impossible possible. You said you could do amazing things with your ability but I had not realized you were even able to remotely do something like this.”

He lowers his arms and cradles them round his stomach making Yuuri fear he is going to be ill on them. Although he is looking far less discolored than he had done during dinner the previous evening. If Yuuri was honest Victor actually looked better than he had done in weeks.

Yuuri’s mind is racing with possibilities, clearly in his drunken state he had shown Victor his ability. So much for keeping that to himself. He wondered what eh could have done to make Victor ill. He and Phichit had used his ability all the time and there had never been any consequences to it before.

He mostly ignores Lord Yakov going on a rant a few steps away from him, going over what Victor had said instead. He wished he had a better memory of when he was drunk because try as he might it was nearly impossible to pull up any definitive memories of his birthday party after the second round of toasts Victor had convinced him in agreeing to.

His birthday celebration, Yuuri mumbles the words in the hope they might spark something. When nothing comes to up he simply resigns in probably never knowing all the details. It still wouldn’t explain their current situation. He looks back up to Victor who seems to be getting increasingly annoyed.

He doesn’t know how Victor thinks his birthday was at the heart of the issue, “but you have been getting ill over the past few weeks, my birthday was nearly three months ago. How?”

Before Victor can even answer Yuuri finds himself nose to snout with one of the oldest dragons he had ever been in one room with. Something told him this Lady, who he assumed was the previously mentioned Lady Evgenia, was not just sniffing him out to measure his worth. He could feel the distinct tingling in his mind he sometimes had with one of the elders of Clan Hasetsu. Understanding that closing his mind off could come of as hostile he decides to let the old dragon in.

There is a soft humming that makes him sway a bit on his feet. A pinch behind his ears makes him winch softly, then there’s a mean jab causing him to let out a weak complaint. He doesn’t know what she is looking for exactly, but he is certain she will find no ill will towards Victor anywhere in his mind. Surely she will see he did nothing that could lead to Victor’s current illness.

He can feel the tingling sensation of her leaving his mind, stepping back towards the bed, and resume her pose next to Victor, with a delicate, but sad, look on her face.

Lady Evgenia’s words strike him as a viper on a hot desert road. Surely there is no way she can believe he is the one responsible for all of this. And how did his powers play into any of this? He only ever used it for small pranks with Phichit or to be certain not to be late for classes. Even in his most drunken state he never did any more than send an entire group of people up on the roof of the University.

Maybe they thought he used his ability to sneak a poison into Victor’s diet when no one had been able to see it, but why mention his birthday or them dancing. It wasn’t making any sense.

If they truly think he did something to Victor. He feels his throat clogging up, a cold shiver going down his spine. Even if Yuuri didn’t do anything just the suspicion of the Insurance doing something to cause bodily harm to the Ruler of Power. There were of course measurements in place to prevent such actions, but just the suspicion could ignite war. If they really thought he poisoned him, they could also believe he did so at the order of the Ember council.

This could mean the end of the Treaty.

But why did Victor keep mentioning the dancing they apparently had done?

“I...I’m not certain I understand what you are talking about my Lady.” Concentrating on that Yuuri manages to pull his quivering voice under control to say the rest. “I was told the rumor was that Victor might have gotten poisoned,” Yuuri swallows the biggest lump in his throat down, he needs to make clear that whatever they think he did he did not do “and I can not see that happening from a simple dance.”

“She is talking about what we discussed about our horns after we had done dancing.” Victor says with a cut off voice. Yuuri might not be an empath he can feel the irritation radiate off of him. Then his words filter in.

“Our horns!!” He bites down on his lips to prevent himself from spewing any more. He had shown Victor his horns, and he had said horns. Which means he had shown him that one as well. And most likely in public.

Yuuri feels the embarrassment bubble up. Just how many dragons had been there when he had showed off that ridiculous part of him. He hadn’t even shown Phichit till they had been friends for almost 22 years, and now he finds out he had shown Victor - and everyone else - that one horn he had been bullied about as a kid. Would it be too much for the world to swallow him now.

He hears Lady Evgenia say something, making him look up just in time to see Victor’s face turn a whole grade whiter in shock. The next moment she has her snout pressed against his nose again.

“I can make you remember little one,” a soft gust of air blows over his face “but know there are consequences at knowing exactly what you have done. Can you accept.”

“Consequences??” Yuuri says hesitantly. “Like what exactly?”

“For one it will cause you to get some of the worst headaches you have ever experienced.” Lady Evgenia gives him a soft look, one not unlike his mother used to give him when she was going to do something he hated -okay, he might not have completely forgiven her for tossing him off that cliff but it got him to spread his wings for the first time if nothing else- but that was inevitably the best option for him.

Before he can even formulate the question if it was worse than a hangover one, as he truly hated those, she already presses her tongue to the top of his forehead. If his horn was out he would have pierced her right through it. 

~~

_Victor lies in his lap, all pliant and content, their dancing finally toned down some of the restless energy they had been buzzing with since that last toast. Yuuri couldn’t resist playing with some of the silver strands - he refused to call them ashen- twirling them around his fingers and away from Victor’s magnificent golden horns that drape around the top of his head like a laurel wreath. It makes him look so unfairly beautiful._

_Yuuri sighs, even Victor’s horns compliment him as where Yuuri’s are just drab black. If not for them protruding out they would simply bland into his hair._

_Victor’s fingers move up, slowly caressing Yuuri’s dumb forehead horn. For a moment he wants to swap Victor’s hand away, not wanting Victor to get tainted by his mediocrity. It’s the soft hum and sweet smile that prevent Yuuri from doing so._

_If he didn’t know better it would almost seem Victor enjoyed touching Yuuri’s horn. Which is a very intimate act for Ember dragons, something reserved only for family and lovers. Maybe Frost dragons were more liberal with it, or Victor knew its importance in Ember society and this was his way to show he was truly interested in him. Yuuri tightens his hold on Victor. If only that last part was true. He would be over the moon if Victor saw him like that. For Victor to become his family. But even if they could become mates they could never be a real family. They would never be able to take that last step._

_“My Yuuri, My wonderful, beautiful Yuuri. If those Bull like horns of yours were not already amazing than this horn, like the illustrious Unicorn, would be enough to prove your extraordinarity. I can only imagine a child with horns like that, you must have been so utterly adorable.”_

_Yuuri nearly chokes on his intake of breath and snorts to prevent himself from coughing all over Victor. He closes his eyes, pushing down the image of a little dragon with horns like him. There is no room for dreaming in this world, some things simply can never be among two dragons with similar breeding parts, no magic known could provide them that._

_Yuuri has to down note Victor’s statement. His horns are not exceptional, if anything the whole fact of him having even an extra one just was yet another reason for some dragons in his youth to bully him._

_“They would have been so much better had they not been as black as my hair.” He can’t help to let some of his desire bleed out when the next words tumble from his mouth. “Had they been gold like yours they would have been so much more wondrous.”_

_Victor though hums pleased, not dissuaded at all, nuzzles closer to Yuuri’s neck. His soft exhale sends a load of shivers down Yuuri’s spine, setting all of his senses ablaze. Making him almost miss the soft words Victor says in the closeness of his skin._

_“If only we could have a child with my colors and your horns. I would never have to worry about you looking at another as we could stay together forever.”_

_Yuuri lets out a sigh, his hand subconsciously sliding down Victor’s body settling on his abdomen. The thought that by some miracle they could have a child like that. That Victor could have their offspring growing inside him. That no one would ever be able to break them apart._

_Yes Yuuri would like that. He would like that a lot._

_He feels his hand starting to tingle but he is so tired he falls asleep before he can fully register the soft glow surrounding them._

~~

Yuuri’s head feels like it’s about to burst. His hands move forward and grab hold of the bed frame to prevent himself from falling to his knees. The thrumming in his head increasing with nearly every heartbeat, telling him there are more memories to follow. For now though only this one came through.

He thought the memory might come back in the way one remembers something from their childhood. With great certainty but not much detail.

It was nothing like that. The memory had broken through whatever blockage his mind builds up when he is drunk like a bloody rampage and had made him relive the moment with every feeling and thought as he had had it in that moment.

Finally though he understands what ails Victor.

He understands exactly why they hold him responsible.

He is responsible.

He got his wish.

A child.

Victor is carrying his child.

He looks up at Victor and sees him clearly for the first time since he entered the room.

Yes he is a bit pale, he looks more tired than one should look, but now that Yuuri knows he can also see the rest. The soft rounding that is starting to form his cheeks, the content hold of his shoulders, his hands resting on the small swelling of his stomach.

The small swelling behind which Yuuri’s child is growing.

A concerned look is marking Victor’s face. Yuuri doesn’t like seeing that look directed at him. Victor should not be worried about Yuuri, he should be busy concentrating about the health of their child.

Yuuri feels a shiver down his spine. Their child. “Oh Heavens.”

“How?” It’s impossible for two male dragons to have a child together. They simply do not have the parts to carry one to full term. To have a child growing in him something had to have changed Victor’s body. His eyes go over Victor again.

He doesn’t seem to be in great discomfort. Still, to have such an extensive change done to him, how could he look so content. The situation was completely unprecedented, this could lead to serious injuries. He could …

“I guess we were just really Lucky.” Victor hums.

‘Lucky?’ Yuuri wants to yell but feels another memory break through the former barrier it was behind.

~~

_Yuuri pours the content from the bottle he just opened in their goblet. It smells fantastic, and he feels a slight tingle in the back of his mind telling him he knows this smell well._

_Victor makes a pleased noise and Yuuri presses the goblet to his lips, making Victor take the first large sip, he then turns the goblet around to have his lips pressed against the exact same spot. He takes a large sip never breaking eye contact with Victor, enjoying the sweet blush on the man’s face._

_The taste glides over his tongue like an old friend. Setting his senses ablaze when the magic in it takes a hold of every cell in his body._

~~

“Oh heavens, he’s going to kill me.” Yuuri stares into nothingness when the realization hits him what that bottle might have contained. “He’s going to kill me, revive me, then kill me again just for good measure.”

He takes a step back, away from the bed, away from Victor who is looking at him with a hurt look on his face, away from the truth that follows him with every step.

He has to be wrong, he has to have mistaken the taste, he would not no matter how drunk done what his mind claims he had done.

Yuuri looks around with hollow eyes, his mind racing over all the things he hopes are not true.

“I’m so, so, so very, sorry. I need to…” He makes a vague movement with his hand that could point at him, encompass the room, or simply mean nothing, before turning around and running out of the room at breakneck speed.

Yuuri crashes into his room, sweeping several items from his cabinets and desk with his wings that have come out in his frenzy. He wonders for a moment if he teleported till the sting in his knees remind him of the floor he hit when he had stumbled around a corner.

Not that he can really concentrate on it as his mind is spiraling between the twinges of pain coming from his mind sorting through his memories.

His eyes sweep over his room in a frantic plea. He needs to find that bottle, he needs to confirm for himself that what he thought happened did not happen. Because if it did then.

“Calm down Yuuri, calm down. You can figure things out if you calm down. Just do that breathing technique Phichit taught you.” Yuuri takes in a ragged breath. “Oh heavens, Victor is pregnant with my child. Phichit is so going to kill me if what I think happened happened.”

Yuuri shakes his head, runs to the closet he had stored all the bottles and vials he had gotten for his birthday in, dropping to his knees going over every item he could. “He won’t kill me, Phichit is reasonable, he might but he won’t. After all it would leave my child half an orphan.”

None of the bottles in there look even remotely like the one he can see as clearly in his mind as if it would be standing in front of him. Maybe he put it with the ones that had questionable contents.

He runs to the small dresser he hid that one box in. The memory of him and Victor unpacking the box sent to him by his parents coming forth with a painful flash.

He goes over the box several times before he has to admit that it isn’t their either.

“If it was empty they might have tossed it out with the waste.” Yuuri shakes his head, no he found several empty bottles so that could not have been the case. “There was a note attached to it, even empty they would have known it was a gift and brought it to me to keep.”

~~

_He leans forward, pulls the card tied to the bottle’s neck off without giving it even another look, then he proceeds to pulling their empty goblet from Victor’s hand. “Now less talking and more drinking.”_

~~

Yuuri slaps his hand over his face. He pulled the note off and tossed it. There was no way anyone would have been able to differentiate this one bottle from all the mead ones that had gotten served. If any magic still resided in it the chances of it still being detectable, after it had gone through the kitchens for cleaning and the brewery for refilling, are less than zero.

Which means there was also no way for Yuuri to find out if the bottle had indeed been sent by Phichit. Unless he wanted to go to the brewery and go over every single bottle they had there to find the little mark he knew Phichit always put on the bottles he used for his potions.

Then again if he did that and not find any he wouldn’t be calmed in any way. He would just worry he had missed the one bottle he was looking for and they were still in hot water. And he might have been born near natural hot springs, he had no interest in being in hot water.

A piercing jolt tells him the headaches are just getting worse.

He needs to figure out how to know if the bottle was really sent by Phichit. Why hadn’t he mentioned anything in any of his letters, even a note would have helped.

The same memory bursts back to the foreground. Slowing down at the part he pulls of the attached card.

“There had been a card.” Yuuri sighs. All he needs to do is find that card and he’ll know if it really was just his power or something that could cause severe issues that made Victor carry his child. “Where did they leave the notes?”

~~

_“Don’t bother. I have assigned Georgi with the task of finding all the corresponding notes and gift-tags to store them into the archives. He can do it without getting too distracted.”_

~~

“Georgi! Georgi will know where the note is. He cleaned them up, and keeps a check on the archives.” Yuuri scrambles to his feet and runs out of the room in search for the older dragon.

After tripping over the second set of stairs Yuuri wonders if he shouldn’t just teleport as it had seemed Victor had been completely aware of his ability. Yuuri had kept up the game of not telling him as retribution for mocking his inability to handle heat, but it had seemed he had known all along. How had he even found out.

~~

_The bottle appears in front of them as if it had always stood there. “There.” Yuuri nods solemnly, wiggling in Victor’s lap. “Now we don’t have to leave the chair.” Victor lets out a loud cheer and nuzzles into Yuuri’s neck, pulling him closer to his chest._

_“Yuuri you can teleport things!” Victor cheers, clapping his hands like an eager child. “How marvelous.”_

_Yuuri snorts. “Not just things. Remember I told you I never really took up flying.” Yuuri smiles confidently. “If I really wanted to I could teleport every living soul in Frost and everything they own to the central plains with just a flick of my mind. I’d crash and sleep for a week after that, but just moving myself places is really easy.”_

~~

Yuuri slams right into a door, coming to a sudden halt. He hadn’t just showed Victor, he had boasted about it. He lets out a loud grunt that would have surely annoyed some of the people in the hallway with him if they hadn’t already been giving Yuuri very cross looks.

In fact, every single person Yuuri ran by had been giving him cold, harsh, angry, or disbelieving, looks that he had completely missed in his need to get to Georgi.

Finally, after stumbling into the Grand Hall causing a massive disturbance among the whole group of people assembled there trying to get more details from the dragon they are all surrounding. Seeing as that dragon just happens to be Georgi Yuuri barges right through the crowd coming to a sudden halt in front of Georgi grasping his knees and wheezing to catch his breath.

“Georgi, thank the heavens I found you. You need to help me.”

“Do I now?”

He doesn’t miss the very cold tone of voice Georgi uses when he says those three words. They send a shiver down Yuuri’s spine and had he not known Georgi’s ability laid elsewhere he would have wondered if the man had tried to freeze him on the spot.

When he looks up, he can see two very cold blue eyes stare down at him. Knowing he needs the man’s help, but can’t risk anyone else overhearing what he needs to ask, he simply pulls him towards the archives. “I need you to help me locate a note from my birthday party.”

Georgi tries to pull away but Yuuri keeps his grip on him. It is soon clear that, unless he uses excessive force, there is no way he can get away from the position he is held in. So he simply glares. Yuuri calmly stares him down.

“I can not see how a note can help you in any way with the current situation?” he says between clenched teeth.

Yuuri sighs. “Neither do I, as I fear the note will simply confirm in exactly how deep of a mess we really are.” Then he pulls his shoulders straight. “But it is for Victor’s well being that we find it.”

“I don’t see how a simple note can help Victor’s well being, but as I owe him many a thing I will assist you in locating this note you are after.” There is a small pause in the man’s voice before he continues. “But if this will hurt Victor in any way know that there will be left no stone unturned for me to repay you in the same kindness.”

Yuuri looks over his shoulder and nods. “As a good friend should. Now show me where you left the notes and cards collected on the morning after my birthday. The longer it will take us to find it the more likely we will be in trouble greater than we can fear to even start imagining later, and I will definitely be killed.”

Georgi huffs. “You know as well as me that it goes against everything in the Treaty of Power to even hurt you, there is no way we could be forgiven if we kill you.”

“It is not a single dragon in Frost I fear, but Phichit will give a ratsass about the treaty If I do not bow down on my bare knees and ask for his forgiveness if I am remotely right about what happened.”

“Why would he do that?” Georgi turns to look at Yuuri after closing the archive doors behind them.

~~

_Phichit ran up ahead from Yuuri to get to his next class in time. Crashing into Celestino when he walks into the hallway they are in. Yuuri speeds up and pulls Phichit up from the grounds. He turns to apologize as he is used to do at home when both the Feyr slam their hands over his mouth._

_“Watch your words Yuuri.” says Celestino. “You have been warned.”_

_“Silly Yuuri.” Phichit chuckles right in his ear. “How many times do I have to warn you that you do not want to be indebted to a feyr. Sure you have some dispensation as you were given permission to study here, but it would still be a lot of trouble to get around some of the old rules.”_

_~~_

“Because this situation is greater than you or anyone else can even start to imagine.”

Georgi looks at him for a moment as if he can’t believe it but as Yuuri knows that his face is showing the seriousness of the situation the older dragon nods and quickly moves down a few of the paths cleared between the stacks of paperwork all around them.

Yuuri doesn’t even have time to wonder how the Frost archivarius can even find something in what he can only describe as unordered mess when Georgi is already back and shows him a few boxes filled with cards and notes Yuuri immediately recognize as being the ones that were on his presents. The memories coming up as clear as can be whenever he just looks at them.

“Now tell me what kind of card we are looking for.” Georgi just looks at him for a second and Yuuri tells him to look for a squared double folder gold and red card.

Georgi nods a few times then moves two boxes to the side mumbling no such cards are in there. Then he moves over the next one but sets it aside before Yuuri can even realize what he was doing.

By box three Yuuri finally understands that he might not understand the system, Georgi does.

“These are the only three cards that match your description, is the one you are looking for among them?”

Yuuri looks at the cards being held towards him. The first one he remembers at once as being attached to a present he had gotten from a girl that was raised with them. She had tried to get too close to Yuuri til Yuuko chased her off. The second was from that dragon that had traveled to Ember to see the light festival.

Chris’s gift was hidden along the other vials and bottles he doesn’t want to be reminded of.

The third though was indeed the card he was looking for. He feels the dread roll around in his stomach. If he opens the card and it shows what he thinks it does then…

Yuuri swallows sharply. Just staring at the card.

Georgi getting to the end of his good manners pulls the card back to himself and plans to open it. Yuuri puts his hand over it. “It was sent to me, I should be the one reading it. Even if I dread with every fiber of my being what it might contain.”

Yuuri slips the card from Georgi’s fingers and opens it.

~~

_Yuuri sat down at the end of the table trying to be as quiet as he could, only handing Phichit the ingredients he asked for. He’d seen the young Feyr concentrate on potions before but nothing like he was now._

_The table not covered with any type of powder, liquid, goo, some odd rocks, and seeds, was covered by notes. Stack upon stack of notes, with the occasional notes spread around the table if it so happen to be the ones Phichit was apparently working with. Yuuri had seen him write many of these notes over the past few weeks, muttering to himself how some things might work or could go horribly wrong._

_Maybe that’s why he was here. To make certain that if at any moment it looked like something went wrong he could intervene._

_Like last time._

_He wasn’t certain Professor Celestino would soon forgive them for causing some odd colored stained blob to be apparently permanently attached to the ceiling of his smaller potion room._

_Or the smell._

_Definitely the smell._

_Yuuri hoped he would be able to one day forget that smell._

_Phichit motioned to a vial and Yuuri handed it over. Then a quick drop of some things he was certain Phichit smuggled into the university as it did not look like something that was even remotely allowed._

_He had been barely fast enough to pull Phichit under a table when the pot he was working in changed from the common black to a splotted green and pink._

_**_

_When they were finally let back into the potion rooms unsupervised Phichit lasted all but two months before he had once again set out at trying to make that potion he claimed would be his most important discovery._

_This time the pot had simply melted._

_Melted through all three stories of the building before getting swallowed up by the ground._

_This time Celestino had not even yelled at them._

_They had been put in extra classes with Professor Lee, a Feyr specialized in all things considered the ancient laws of Balance and Power._

_It had resulted in Phichit starting to date Professor Lee’s son and getting the use of the Lee family laboratory as none of the current members of the family even used it outside of storage for their books._

_They had managed to only blow it up partially and the only book that was singed was one Seung-Gil had calmly stated they had several copies of anyway. Plus he claimed it was a good reason to finally have some needed repairs done to the place._

_These ‘needed’ repairs just so happened to make the place end up exactly as Phichit needed it to be._

_Yuuri was happy though, with Seung-Gil keeping an eye on Phichit when he worked over at his place Yuuri had been freed to actually put some more effort and time into his own studies. Something both Celestino as his other instructors took liberal charges with as he found himself swamped with books on more nights than he had liked._

_Yuuri was working on a very detailed report about inter transdementional law applications, concerning wish fulfillment, when Phichit came hurtling through the door of their shared dorm room, wings out and a grin plastered on his face that made him look almost terrifying, barreling the largest of three stacks all over the place._

_“I did it Yuuri. I finally got everything right.”_

_His best friends arms were strung tightly around him in the most jubilating exasperating grip to date, leaving Yuuri with barely enough breath to tap a few times or he would have surely past out. Phichit let’s go with an apologetic smirk and a bounce to his step._

_Yuuri rubbed his hand over his neck. “Okay,” he said while smiling at the jubilating Feyr “so you finally found out how to make the potion without blowing everything up, or burn things down. How long till it is done?”_

_Yuuri knew some potions could take years if not decades to actually be done once you started brewing them._

_There was even one potion currently being brewed in one of the lower levels at the University that was according to papers almost seven hundred years old and only just past its halfway point._

_So when Phichit pulled a small vial from his breast pocket and showed it to Yuuri, well saying he was mildly surprised was a very big understatement. The dragon and feyr shared a look between them before they started grinning like idiots._

_“It’s actually done.” Yuuri leans forward looking at the amber colored liquid sloshing inside. It looks exactly like Minako’s secret homebrewed mead, making Yuuri wonder if it too will cause him to get drunk of his rocks, shift to his true form, and refuse to land for two whole days. Shifting back had been relatively easy. Except for his horns who had stayed out for a whole month after. “Done, done, and safe to use?”_

_“Relatively safe yes.” Phichit said with a mumble. Quickly shaking his empty hand in a denying way to dispel the worried look on Yuuri’s face. “Not in a bad way, it is just it is very strong and I don’t know what might happen if too much of it is in one's system. It might do absolutely nothing that is deemed bad at all.”_

_Yuuri nodded. “So in small doses it is safe?” He still feels a bit apprehensive. “What if I sneak off and take the whole vial to help me to get that feyr I’m looking for?”_

_Phichit looks at him in the most impish of ways. “I’ll hunt you down and kill you in every way I know how, then find a way to revive you only to do it again.”_

~~

Georgi pulls the card from his numb fingers. “Just how does ‘Remember to spread your luck evenly’ said by a hand drawn hamster cause you to look so crestfallen?” Georgi turns the card around a few times wondering if there is a hidden message only to be seen under a certain angle. “It seems to be just a standard well wishing to me. Just an act of kindness between friends.”

A burst of hot flamed pokers come to live behind Yuuri’s right eye.

~~

_Georgi walks right up to them when they have barely landed, he is followed by Mila and a few others from the servants. Before Yuuri can do anything their travelgear has already been hauled off, their bags are on their way to their rooms, Mila is guiding Yuuri inside chatting about the planning lady Lilia set up for them for the afternoon._

_When he looks over his shoulder he sees Georgi hand a very pale Victor a small cup, the content must be hot as Victor pulls up his nose in a displeased way after taking a sip. There is something Georgi says that Yuuri can’t hear but seems to make Victor give a soft smile at him._

_“Don’t worry Yuuri-dear.” Mila pulls his attention. “Georgi and Victor are some of the closest friends in our stead. It is just a kindness between friends.”_

~~

Yuuri stumbles from the sudden burst. This one more violent than some of the previous ones. Likely because he hadn’t seen anything significant to the situation then, unlike how he had simply been drunk at his birthday.

“What just happened?” Georgi sounds more worried than angry. Yuuri thinks it’s because if he looks only half as ill as that he feels he looks horrible.

“Lady Evgenia gave my brain a small boost to help me sort out what happened to get Victor in the situation we are currently in.” Yuuri smiles weakly. “Right now anything that could have anything to do with any part of this will trigger memories to surface quite violently.”

Georgi hums. “Yes I remember that.” He says with a slight guilty look on his face. “Did what you see give you any insight to the situation.”

“All it has shown me is that we are in a very deep deep mess. I will have to beg, and possibly grovel, and most likely beg some more.” Yuuri sighs, taking a step back. “I can only hope Phichit will forgive me fast as we are absolutely doomed if only one word about this situation is leaked outside of those that are in the know here in the Hall. This situation could not just destroy the treaty it could result into a full blown war.”

Georgi blinks at Yuuri a couple of times, swears some words Yuuri had not believed the normally polite -albeit melodramatic- dragon could even know and drags him by his wrist out of the archives in a near neck breaking speed.

“I can only hope Victor’s situation kept Yakov busy long enough.” Georgi says over his shoulder. “For I believe you but even if so, I have no idea how you can stop him from informing everyone.”

When they enter the great Hall they see Yakov step up to the large platform Victor uses to hold his speeches and proclamations to the court on. Understanding that time is of the essence and it is slipping through their fingers like loose sand Yuuri does the one thing he can think of.

Georgi looks at his empty hand and the empty stage in amazement. The teleportation had happened so fast he doubt the majority of the people in the Hall had even realized what had happened to Yakov.

~~

_“Where are we going exactly?” Yuuri looked at Victor’s back while he was dragging him along some staircase. “And don’t say it’s a surprise again, I just really want to know.”_

_Victor looked over his shoulder and smiled. “I’m taking you to one of my three most beloved places in the whole Hall. Please do not worry. I’m certain you will love it.”_

_Understanding this is all that would be said about it Yuuri just nodded, sighed, and followed along for several more staircases. If he was not mistaken it felt as if they were going to one of the highest towers on the Hall, yet they had not crossed a single guard._

_Once up though Yuuri understood._

_The tower Victor took him to was by far the tallest, connected to the tops of some of the other smaller ones by crossways many floors down, but it was placed at such a spot that the winds that never seemed to really lie down around the Hall had freerange around it. Yuuri doubted that even Victor with his excellent flying talent could manage to fly to it without crashing._

_The view though. The view was worth the climb._

_“Wow. Victor.” Was all Yuuri could say before he just felt overwhelmed by the beauty of it._

_Victor wrapped his arms around him and placed his chin on his shoulder. “I know.”_

~~

Yakov looks less impressed by the view.

Not that Yuuri can blame him as the man was only just moments ago ready to ruin everything. Unknowingly, but still. His mind supplies him the memory of where his coat was left and he teleports it to himself, then he also calls for Yakov’s coat although the man doesn’t look any bit cold.

“What do you think you are doing.” Yakov says with a snarl when Yuuri hands him his coat. “You are best to put me right back there before you cause any more harm.”

“I am very sorry about my abrupt action.” Yuuri says while bowing his head and folding his hands in a pleading way. “But for Victor and our child’s sake I can not let you tell anyone not already in the know how he is with child and that it is mine.”

Yakov physically bristles, turns red, and has several horns pop out. Yuuri waits while the man takes in deep gulps of breath, clearly preparing himself for a good scolding.

He’s actually surprised when he misses the first few words due to the soft tone they are spoken in.

“You really dare to claim anything you have been doing since leaving that boy’s room was for his sake.” Yakov says through gritted teeth. “If you truly cared about Victor’s state, you would be with him, finding a way to care for the child you imposed on him. You would most definitely not be running around the whole stead mumbling the name of that annoying boyfriend of yours for all to hear!”

Yuuri is bombarded with images of his run through the Hall. His mind providing him with a clear image of every person he passed on his way around. Then the final part of Yakov’s words finally hit him.

“Boyfriend?” Yuuri looks up puzzled. “I don’t have a boyfriend. Never had one. No interest for any since the longest time.”

~~

_Yuuri finds himself staring at the boy dancing center stage in a state of complete mesmerization. Being an avid dancer himself he knows that some of those moves are way more difficult than he is making them appear to be. The other boy can be nothing else but a feyr. For no other race could be so gracious._

_Then between the one position and the next their eyes meet and the world around them ceases to exist. Slowly a great smile appears on the dancer’s face, Yuuri feels his entire being light up and he smiles back. He wants to get closer and moves to step forward._

_He feels a hand grab his shoulder lightly._

_“Come on Yuuri-kun. We have to leave or you will be unable to wake up in time for classes.” Minako says with a smile while pulling Yuuri away from the hall the closing ceremony of the Exchange of Power is held._

~~

“Not since I saw Victor dance over a hundred years ago.” Yuuri smiles softly. The memory shines so vividly in his mind he misses Yakov losing some of his steam. Even several horns retract after realizing the meaning of the dopey grin on this boys face.

Yakov leans forward. “Then tell me boy, why you keep babbling about this Phichit so much?” For Victor’s sake he has to know.

Yuuri blinks at him a few times. “Phichit is my best friend Sir. He has been there for me from the moment I started taking classes in Fairling. When I still believed Victor to be a Feyr.” Yuuri blushes as if he is reminded of something embarrassing. “He has done everything that he could to help me find Victor. And in a way he did, as it was him that found out Victor was a dragon instead of a Feyr.”

Yakov sees a group of guards come up the crossways from one of the other towers, but even at their current speed it would still take them several minutes before they would reach the location he and Yuuri were currently standing.

Yuuri turns to see where he is looking at and turns pale a bit. “Damn.” The boy mumbles. “I had hoped to have a bit more time.”

“They will be in earshot soon enough. So say what you need to say quickly, for I am still mad at you for what you did to Victor and if I figure out how I will…”

“They can’t hear what we say till they are at this very platform and even then they will need to be in arms reach. So I have enough time if you can keep quiet for long enough.” Yuuri interrupts Yakov and silences his next words with a strong glare.  

“Do not be stubborn with me old man. We both know you care too much for Victor to want to see any harm done to him and if you are not silent and listen for once it will mean Victor’s life and the safety of all of the known and unknown worlds.”

Yakov purses his lips together not very unlike Lilia does when she is enraged and nods to indicate Yuuri can continue for all he cares.

“Good.” Yuuri takes another look at where the guards are coming and nods. “My friend Phichit might not be the most scholared Feyr about, he is a great alchemist. For he can make any potion he has set his mind to, even some that are said to be actually impossible to craft. Like a potion consisting out of pure luck.”

Yakov snorts, he doesn’t see how that helps with Victor one bit. Yuuri just ignores him making his hair and horns stand on end again.

“He did manage to craft that potion. He made a potion that with just one drop on your tongue helps you achieve anything as long as it is possible. 

Yuuri looks at him as if that ridiculous statement makes anything that happened any clearer. If the boy really believes Yakov is some fool that believes stories like that he was truly born yesterday. He has been responsible for bringing up Victor, son of Lord Nikiforov of Clan Nikiforov and Lady Eloise of the Flower Plains, he has heard every story under the sun and recognizes an excuse when he hears one.

“You seem to not understand.” Yuuri sighs. “That last drink Victor and I shared during my birthday celebration. The one we poured in a single cup and drank till the final drop. It was not some mead sent to me by a friend. It was that exact potion.”

Yakov feels his blood turn sour. “You mean?” Surely the boy can’t mean what he is suggesting.

“A full bottle of Luck potion one should not take more than one drop of, shared between us. Before we danced, before we sat down and started talking about how a child of the both of us would look. A magical potion made by a Feyr. Induced with the magic of the Feyr.”

Yuuri sees the understanding dawn on Yakov's face.

"If you are telling me the truth that boy's in mortal danger." Yakov mumbles softly.

"That is why I took you here. Victor's situation can not be shared with any more people than that are already in the know." Yuuri feels the start of a smile forms on his lips.

"We'll need to prevent Lilia from telling." Yakov looks at Yuuri with steeled resolve on his face. His eyes spot the guards that are almost at their location. "You." He points at Yuuri. "Go set some tea. You know where."

++

Yuuri nods the same moment the guards pile onto the platform, disappearing the next when the first one to come close tries to grab him. Yakov lets out a small sigh, these dumb boys are making him old.

“Sir, are you okay?” The head of the troup looks at Yakov as if he expected to have found him battered and bruised. “We came as soon as we were informed of the location he took us. You have nothing to worry about, we will help you get back down safely. Plus Lady Lilia is taking care of the matters you left.”

“Oh Dammit.” Yakov says with a snarl. “I feared she would take things in her own hands but I had hoped to have had more time.” He pinches his nose. “I would not have the luck that one of you has the ability to project their voice.”

One of the smaller guards raises his hand tentatively. “Actually I can Sir. Although it’s not actual projecting, it’s just if I want to, my voice can be heard everywhere within a certain range. So anything I say will be heard by everybody in the Stead.”

“At least I won’t be the only one that has to suffer.” Yakov smiles wryly.

++

Lilia steps unto the platform the moment she has been given confirmation by one of the guards that the ones sent out to retrieve Yakov have reached the top of the tower. What a foolish man to have gotten himself taken like that. Then again, she is holding him partially responsible for Victor getting set with child, so she should have expected him to fail at doing something as simple as setting the mood of the people at rest.

“Dearest people. Truly you have nothing to worry about, the guards have reached Yakov in time, he is soon to be brought back safely. As for the situation between Victor and the Insurance…”

A loud shriek interrupts her.

She looks around angry to see who of all those gathered has the indignity to do such a thing at a time like this.

“Lady Lilia, my apologies for interrupting you...yes I apologize about that...This is Mikhail from the North Tower, we have gotten to Sir Yakov in time and he tells me to tell you…”

It stays silent for a second. Lilia almost raises her eyebrow when a second shriek comes out.

“I can’t say that… Okay… Okay…” A loud sigh is heard. “Keep that busybody snout of yours shut, and get your ass to the office without another word. The situation just got a whole lot more complicated and you can only make it all go to the... what even does that word mean?... Okay… okay...Not saying that word my mother would strip my hide… She is scarier than you… Fine. Apparently you can only make it all far worse if you decide to be obtuse again.”

The whole Hall erupts in not so silent whispers during Mikhail’s relay. Whatever is going on it seems to be even more interesting as previously thought. The look on Lady Lidia’s face though is so frigid that soon the whispers die out. Just in time to hear the last bit loud and clear.

“I swear… wait seriously… oh man… I swear - well Sir Yakov does - that this time you will seriously bed forgiveness on your knees if you do not listen. I can’t believe you talk to a Lady like that Sir Yakov. Honestly my mother would be so disappointed in you.”

Lady Lilia straightens her back and stalks out of the great Hall towards her office. No one stops her or even does anything to attract her attention to them. Sir Yakov placed a major target onto himself and no one wants to take that spot away from him.

++

Yuuri looks up from the tea he just finished pouring when Lilia pushes open the office door and walks in. She almost takes a step back when she finds Yuuri simply standing there, instead she crosses her arms and purses her lips.

“At least you will listen before threatening to snap one’s neck.” Yuuri smiles at her, offers her a cup of tea, and sits down. “I’ll keep it as short as possible.”

No less than a minute later she sits down opposite Yuuri and takes a large sip of her tea. All of her anger towards the boy in front of her deflated.

“Whatever can we even do?” Her voice quivers softly, clearly to her disliking as she swallows hard and continues with it strong again. “Any action we take will surely alert the authorities about the situation. We can’t risk the child like that, he would be devastated.”

“That is why it is so imperative that I have your help my Lady, you can manipulate Ice so that it will appear as if it is a mirror.” Yuuri leans forward, putting his hand on Lilia’s. “I need one of those. I can’t risk using a real one as it no doubt will be monitored. But with yours we might succeed in catching Phichit around a surface that is but also isn’t one as well.”

“You would need to time it perfectly.” Lilia pats his hand, seeing the determination in the young Ember dragon’s eyes.

They both look up when Yakov enters the office. “Good you listened. Now boy, we need to solve this issue quickly, people are getting antsy.”

“And whose fault is that??” Lady Lilia stands up and pokes her finger sharply in Sir Yakov’s chest. “How dare you say such things were other can hear them. I will be thinking of a very appropriate punishment for those words.”

“Lady Lilia, as much as I understand your feelings we are best to get Victor properly informed before something else happens.” Yuuri stands up, taking the tray with tea from the desk and hands it over to Yakov.

Lilia nods. “You are right, let us go at once.”

++

“Sir, If you and Lady Lilia could…” The guard that pushes open the door finds the office empty even though he knew for a fact lady Lilia had entered it several minutes before Sir Yakov had and there was no other exit. He slowly closes the door again, feeling a dread set in his shoulders. Seems it would be on him to placate the crowd that had come to the office to demand answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this, one more chapter and an epilogue.
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this chapter and comment. I love hearing from my readers. :}

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it.   
> Leave a like or a comment and let me know what you think. :}


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